


Crash Landing

by CanITellUSmThin



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Death, Elsanna - Freeform, F/F, Gen, Island - Freeform, Minor Romance, Other, Plane, Stranded, Tragedy, crash, wrecked
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:10:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3235769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanITellUSmThin/pseuds/CanITellUSmThin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After their plane inexplicably crashes, three teens find themselves stranded on what appears to be a deserted island. Will they find a way off the island alive? (mAU, contains some Elsanna/not incest)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crash

Anna lugged her carry-on bag down the aisle, hunting for an empty seat on what would be her sixth plane ride in six years. She specifically searched for two empty seats with the intention to sit alone and just relax until the plane arrived at the destination she was headed. 

Having had her fair share of annoying passengers on her previous trips, Anna definitely was not in any mood to sit beside snotty children, snoring old men, or an overly chatty person. Her first time flying she ended up sitting near a mother with five unruly toddlers, one of which happened to sit in the aisle seat beside her. The child had one finger constantly up his schnoz and he kept working it like there was no tomorrow. She had to sit for two hours pressed as close to the side of the plane as she could possibly get so none of the kid’s gross boogers would get on her. 

Then there was the second time she flew on a plane. She thought when she plopped herself into the seat next to a wrinkly old man the ride would be uneventful and she would be able to get some much needed rest. That, of course, didn't happen. The man she sat beside was pleasant enough when he was awake, but when he was sleeping his snores were like some kind of wild beast snarling. Also, it seemed as if he only snored when Anna herself was trying to catch some Zs. Every time she closed her eyes he released a tremendous, loud, grating snore that rattled through her whole body. She was forced to remain awake on that trip and left the plane with eyelids drooping, stumbling like a drunken fool.

The third time she ever went on a plane she had the misfortune to choose a seat next to a rather hefty woman. The woman had smiled at her as she seated herself... and then she proceeded to launch herself into a monologue from hell. She talked nonstop, telling Anna her whole life's story unasked, filling Anna in on what she did every day, the random people she’d met and conversed with, etc. Anna felt ready to jump out of the plane in the first hour alone. She had her eyes fixed on the emergency exit door on the opposite side of the aircraft the entire ride, imagining herself opening it and leaping out to escape the blabber, and her hands gripped the armrests so hard that by the end of the flight they ached and it hurt to bend or move her fingers. 

Her fourth and fifth trip had been entirely worse---hellish--- and she disliked dwelling on them for too long or else she’d develop a brain throbbing headache.

Crossing her fingers, Anna hoped her sixth ride would be much better than her past ones. If she could just find two empty seats directly beside each other so she could sit by herself with no disturbances...

From the looks of it she didn't have much of a choice. There were no empty seats next to each other so she had to settle with either sitting next to a boy with piercings all over his face or a very pale, almost sickly-looking middle-aged man who appeared to be suffering with a terrible cold. Sit next to a possible show-off/loser, or endure hours listening to the sweet music of a person sneezing every five seconds while smearing their mucus on their shirt sleeve and, if she was really lucky, spewing up their last meal. Tough choice, but she went and chose the former. How much of a problem could a guy with rings and studs sticking out of his face possibly be?

She couldn't help but stare at the studded boy as she approached. His red hair was up in a long, spiny Mohawk with neatly trimmed sideburns bordering his face. There were two hideous nose rings, one hanging from each nostril, and too many eyebrow rings and ear piercings that she didn‘t bother to count. She didn't want to think about the non-visible places that a ring or two might have been placed. 

He met her stare with an emotionless expression, leaving her with some hope. After she placed her luggage in an overhead compartment right above her seat, she swiped her fingers through her fiery hair and wordlessly sat down, plugging her headphones connected to her iPod into her ears.

She listened to her music as the rest of the passengers finished boarding and wished she'd had an iPod that time she had to sit next to the chatterbox. She wouldn't have had to sit for hours listening to the woman drone on and on about cleaning her ears or shaving her legs or---

Anna shuddered at the memory and blocked it out, turning the volume way up and making her eyes close shut. She was lost in the music, drumming her fingers methodically against the armrest, bobbing her head to the beat. And then her eyes snapped open and she ripped the plugs out of her ears as someone stepped on her foot. She looked down and spotted the dirty smudge on the side of her shoe, then she lifted her head to see a girl with whitish-blond hair and who looked to be about her own age walking by.

She didn‘t have the decency to glance back once to offer an apology. 

Anna waited a full five seconds to allow the girl time to realize what she’d done and say sorry, and once those seconds were up and the girl still hadn’t said a word of apology, she snapped unkindly, "Excuse me!"

The other girl didn't acknowledge her existence. She was busy swiveling her head around, her immaculate thick, single braid swinging freely behind her, appearing to be searching for a seat. Anna clambered to her feet and repeated in a much louder tone, "Excuse me!"

Finally the girl turned curiously. She saw Anna was glaring at her and raised both her eyebrows. "Are you talking to me?"

"Uh... yeah!" Anna pointed down at her shoe and the girl followed the direction of her finger. "You scuffed my shoe!"

The girl shifted her weight and a strap of her black backpack slid down her shoulder, causing her bag to slip halfway down her back. She shrugged it back in place, and that was when Anna noticed the name scrawled in barely noticeable gray magic marker on one of the backpack pockets. The sloppy writing said “Elsa”. "It's a shoe," the girl, presumably Elsa, said amused.

"It is not just a shoe!" Anna fumed. She lifted her leg to show Elsa her shoe in full view. "These shoes were a gift from a family member! They are brand new and they're not cheap, you know!"

Elsa looked at the shoe for a moment and then brought her blue eyes up to meet Anna's fierce green-blue ones. "Let it go," she said simply, and with a roll of her eyes she strolled on down the aisle as Anna shouted explicit words at her back. 

Once Elsa was seated and all Anna could see was the top of her blond head, she flopped back into her own seat with her arms crossed, her bottom lip sticking out in a babyish pout. "That bitch is going to pay for the damage she did to my shoes," she muttered angrily under her breath. She turned her head when she felt the boy's eyes on her and growled, "What?"

"Dude, they're just shoes. Get over it." And with that he turned to look out the window as the plane prepared for take off.

\------------------------

Anna had dozed off right after the plane left the ground. She had been listening to her iPod and thinking up ways to kill the girl named Elsa who had ruined her shoe when her eyes inched themselves closed without her even realizing it. She was out like a light in a matter of minutes, which was quite unusual for her on a plane trip. Rarely did she get a chance to get a good rest while on a plane…

Her rest was short-lived. Eyes snapping open, she felt something stabbing her on her bottom and yelped in pain, reaching underneath her to remove whatever it was beneath her. It turned out to be one of Mohawk boy's piercings.

"Oh. That's where that went!" he declared and snatched it from her hand to insert it back into his face.

Anna looked away in disgust, so she didn't see its original placement. She turned back around once she thought he was done putting it back and snapped, "What the hell was that doing in my seat?"

He cracked open a bag of peanuts and popped a few into his mouth before downing the entire bag in one shot. Wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his arm, he snorted through his nostrils and said, "It just fell out. Gosh, take a chill pill. You have such a 'tude."

Grumbling, she kicked her feet up, placing the bottoms against the back of the seat in front of her and folding her arms over her chest. She started to resume sleeping when there was a boom that came from the right side of the aircraft, the same side as her but a little further up, and the plane wobbled unstably in the air. Instantly her feet dropped and she sat up as far as the restraining seat belt would let her as shocked gasps and fearful screams permeated the cabin all at once.

"What was that?" Anna heard herself say to no one in particular.

Mohawk boy pushed his face as close to the window as possible trying to get a look outside to see what might have happened. Someone towards the middle of the plane screamed loudly, drowning out all other noises, that the wing was gone. The explosion, or whatever it was, had ripped the piece cleanly off. Several people started to get up to see for themselves but the plane lurched to the left as the weight of the left wing made the aircraft roll, and those who were standing were thrown hard into the seats on the opposite side. The whole plane was filled with screams of terror as the plane tipped, and if the Captain said anything over the intercom it was drowned out by the wails.

Anna's screams were stuck in her throat. She couldn't believe this was actually happening to her! It crossed her mind that planes for her were bad luck. She should have realized that after all her trips turned out terrible. Her hands held on to the straps of her seat belt, glad that she hadn‘t taken it off, and she found herself staring out a window on the other end of the plane, which was now below her, at the rolling waves of the ocean. The plane, usually horizontal, was now flying vertical, and it was no longer actually flying but falling, descending at a rapid rate toward the sea below.

Beside her, Mohawk boy clung to the seat in front of him due to the lack of a seat belt. His had snapped while the plane had started its roll. His grip on the seat was not strong enough or maybe clammy hands had made the seat too slippery, but Mohawk boy lost his grip and tumbled down to what was now the bottom of the plane, his foot hitting Anna in the side of her face as he went. The blow made Anna see stars and she closed her eyes to clear her vision.

The plane's descent increased as gravity pulled the craft down. Elsa ducked her head as bodies flew her way and thought about getting to the emergency door somewhere behind her. Except there was one small problem with that idea. If she released herself from the seat harness she would end up tumbling aimlessly around the plane just like everyone else. Staying put was her only option, and though her chances of surviving were probably low, they were ten times better than the result she would get if she tried to do something. 

"This sucks," Elsa thought to herself as the plane spiraled uncontrollably and all she could do was hope for the best.

It reached ground level seconds later, the tip of the wing that was still attached skimmed the water’s surface and then sliced through it like a knife cutting into a soft-baked cake. The nose of the airplane crashed into boulders protruding out of the sea, crumpling and bursting into flames immediately on impact. As the front was devoured by flames, the remainder of the aircraft, middle to back of the plane, detached and flipped end over end through the air, sending parts and pieces of the aircraft---as well as bodies---flying in every possible direction, some landing in the ocean and others landing on the shore of an uninhabited island.


	2. Settling In

Anna woke up with her face in sand. 

At first she was confused and didn't understand how sand ended up on the plane, then she remembered what had happened and quickly lifted her head spluttering and spitting out what sand managed to get inside her mouth. No matter how much she spat she could still taste the granules in her mouth, and they created a nasty crunchy feeling when she pressed her teeth together that grossed her out.

Anna did a push up to lift herself up, her whole body throbbing with aches and pains. She collapsed back to the ground again when a shooting pain shot up and down her right arm, causing her to cry out. A huge gash ran down the length of her arm, fresh blood oozing out. Sand collected on the bloody wound which made the pain even worse. She wiped her hand over the wound to brush off as much of the sand as possible and held back her whimpers.

Once she got most of the sand off she rolled onto her back and lay panting, clutching her injured arm, her mind working, trying to recall the last bit of information she remembered before she had lost consciousness. It was obvious to her that the plane had crashed. Otherwise she wouldn't be lying on a beach in soaking wet clothes. What she couldn't understand was how she managed to survive the crash. But did that matter? The point was she survived it, and for that Anna was very much thankful. She was a teenager after all, and she still had her whole life ahead of her.

Peering up at the sky, she marveled at the bright baby blue color and the light smatter of marshmallowy clouds that peppered it. It looked so beautiful and serene, and if Anna had an artistic bone in her body and wasn’t currently involved in a deadly plane crash, she would have loved to paint or draw the scene. She squinted as the sun shot beams of scorching heat down on her, but with the coolness of the water on her skin and her drenched clothes she didn't experience the full effect of it. Once she was dry, however, that would be a different story.

Carefully and painstakingly slow, Anna moved so she was sitting up. She surveyed her surroundings and was taken aback at the wreckage strewn about. There was luggage haphazardly scattered all over the beach, along with large pieces of metal and other parts that had once been attached to a plane. Bodies joined the mess. Most of them were floating in the ocean, either being carried out into sea by the waves or pushed towards the beach, bumping up against rocks. It was a gruesome sight, and the longer Anna looked the more shocked she became. Her surviving the crash could only be described as a miracle.

She wondered if she was the only survivor…

She struggled to her feet and wobbled unsteadily, and for a moment she thought she was going to fall again, that maybe she had injured one of her legs as well. Anna had rips and tears in her clothes that held smaller scratches beneath them, but other than those minor injuries her legs felt perfectly fine. There was a sudden sharp little pain on the big toe of her left foot and she glanced down at the naked foot, the sock and shoe missing from it, and gasped. Kicking her foot out fast, she sent a crab that had been pinching her toe sailing claw over claw across the sand, watching as it landed feet first beside a body. The crab didn't move right away, probably getting over the shock of being hurled through the air, but once it got over the shock it moved in its lazy crabbish way and crawled up to the head of the body.

The body was on its side, scrunched up in a fetal position. The crab walked very close to the face--- a face Anna remembered seeing on the plane, riddled with disgusting piercings--- and lifted its claw ever so slowly, closing it and latching on to Mohawk boy's nose.

Anna heard a low moan and realized it had come from the boy. Another survivor! His body twitched and a hand reached up to touch his nose--- and the crab hanging on to it. He only groaned again, scrunching himself even tighter into a ball, leaving the crab where it was. Where he had touched his nose there was a smear of blood. It was all over his hand, Anna noticed. She walked over to where the boy lay and could see very clearly how bad it was. Where the blood was coming from she couldn't tell, but she figured it centered around his stomach judging from his body language.

She knelt down and pried the crab off, being careful to avoid its deadly claws, and tossed the crustacean over her shoulder. Then she gingerly reached out to move the boy’s arms away from the front of his stomach. While she did that she couldn't help but notice that the boy's mohawk was still remarkably intact. It amazed her that it hadn't been destroyed when it got wet. He must have loaded it with a lot of water proof gel, she mused. She finally got his hands out of the way, and sure enough there was a huge bloody stain in his clothes directly over his stomach. The reason behind the bleeding was a sharp piece of metal that had somehow lodged itself inside him. Almost like a piercing, she thought ironically.

"Don't touch him," a voice said from behind her, startling her. Anna whipped her head around fast, and regretted it immediately from the pain that suddenly filled her head.

Pressing her hand against the top of her head, Anna watched unhappily as the same girl who had stepped on her shoe before the plane took off walked towards her, her backpack making wet slapping sounds against her back. Some of her blond hair had freed from the braid she wore and was now disheveled and wild, but in a good way. The look was admittedly incredibly sexy, and if Anna didn’t know better she would never have guessed the blond had been involved in a disastrous plane crash.

Involuntarily, Anna felt her own hair, wondering how hers looked. Definitely not sexy, she thought as she struggled to free her fingers after they got tangled in wild strands. Once she freed her hand she said sourly, turning her back on the girl, “I thought you died."

Elsa tossed down her bag and swiftly undid her braid, squeezing some water from her hair. "Sorry to disappoint you," she said sarcastically. 

Anna studied her and couldn't detect any injuries on her. She watched as Elsa knelt down beside the boy and opened her backpack, removing a first aid kit from it. Using a pair of scissors inside the first aid kit, she cut Mohawk boy's shirt so she could get at his stomach wound easily.

"I thought you said not to touch him," Anna said snidely. "There you are doing exactly that!"

Elsa looked at her expressionlessly. "I'm helping him,” she said, putting great emphasis on the word “help”. “I have the right materials to help him with and you don‘t. You'd only manage to make things worse for him." She pulled the shard of metal out and quickly used the shirt to press over the wound. "And besides, I know what I'm doing because my mother is a nurse and my father is a doctor."

"Oh, so that makes you Dr. Knowitall then, I presume?"

Elsa scowled and worked silently on Mohawk boy for the next few minutes. After she patched his wound she straightened him out so he lay on his back and his arms were at his sides, and then she used a few shirts she had in her backpack as a pillow for him, placing them underneath his head. She stood, slapping her hands together, and looked around. There were several bodies sprawled in unnatural angles on the beach and she doubted any of them were living. Still, she wanted to be sure, so she told Anna she was going to check the bodies out.

"Okay," Anna replied. And when Elsa was out of ear shot she muttered, "And when you're done with that go throw your shoe-wrecking self into the ocean."

"Jeez, are you still going on about that?" a male's voice said weakly. Mohawk boy coughed and groaned.

She spun to face him. "Uh yeah! You're a boy so what do you know about shoes?"

He grimaced, made a move to sit up and changed his mind, falling back down, the hot sand warming his bare back. He rested his hands on his chest and breathed deeply but that hurt too much so he started to breathe more shallowly. "I-I think I know when they're unimportant. Like now, for instance. We were just in a plane crash and all you can think about is a stupid shoe. Survival is currently the important issue. Not whether your useless shoe is smudge free." His eyes drifted to her feet. “Speaking of smudged shoes, it looks like you misplaced one of yours.”

Anna glared at him menacingly and wondered if he and Elsa were related. She didn't know either of them and yet they had some kind of mutiny against her, so she guessed they had to be related in some way. Maybe siblings. Siblings with a different father or mother since they didn’t look anything alike.

When Elsa returned she said to Anna, "Thanks for helping me."

The red-head was busy examining and cleaning the sand from under her nails. "No problem." She looked up briefly, saw the annoyed look Elsa was giving her and stuck her tongue out at her before continuing with what she was doing. Last thing she was going to do was gawk at dead bodies to see if they were alive. Yuck!

Elsa stared at her and exchanged a look with Mohawk boy. She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and closed it again, settling on just rolling her eyes to convey her feelings. She put her hands on her hips and released her breath. "Well, it appears we are the only survivors. All the bodies I was able to examine were in bad sha---"

"What about me?" Anna interrupted huffily.

"What about you?" Elsa inquired, a bored look on her face.

Anna extended her arm, winced at the pain, and said, "Hello! My arm? Look at it. Look at this gash here. It needs to be taken care of before it gets infected or something." When Elsa didn't move she said, "Helloooo? Help me."

"Help yourself," Elsa said calmly. 

Anna puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and plopped herself into the sand. She grabbed the kit and dabbed at the cut with an antiseptic napkin. Elsa watched what she was doing, and when she was satisfied Anna had everything under control she said, "Since we could be here for a while, I think we should all introduce ourselves so we know what to call each other. My name is Elsa."

"No way! Really? I would have never guessed! I figured you just liked carrying around someone else‘s backpack," Anna said with a snort.

The other two ignored her and Mohawk boy introduced himself next. "My name is Hans."

"Hands? What kind of name is that?"

“It’s Hans, not hands,” Hans corrected in irritation.

Elsa crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright then, what's your name?"

"Anna," Anna said proudly while at the same time struggling to wrap a bandage around her cut.

"No way! You‘re kidding?" Elsa said, imitating Anna‘s voice. "How incredibly boring!" Anna frowned and flipped her off. Elsa returned the gesture and then focused her attention on Hans. Without looking at Anna she said, "Help me move him under those trees over there." She nodded to where she meant and positioned herself behind his head. When the other girl didn't make a move to assist her she sighed. "Today would be nice, thanks."

Anna stayed rooted where she was. Her arm was bandaged now, but it was done horribly. "Why aren't you hurt? Hm? I find that very strange. I bet you sabotaged the plane somehow! So of course you were prepared when it started to crash. I bet that's it. Yeah, that's exactly it. You have a first aid kit. How convenient. You knew what was going to happen because you made it happen and brought the kit just in case you got hurt!" she flared.

Tired of playing games and wishing she had been stuck with someone different than Anna, preferably someone more likable, Elsa let her hands hang off the top of her knees as she balanced on her feet, legs pressed together, and said, "I was sitting by the window, which shattered before the plane crashed and I fell through it and landed in the water. Then I grew mermaid fins and swam to shore. Happy? Great. Now help me. We don't want him laying out in the sun like this."

After several more minutes, Anna finally gave in and together they helped bring Hans underneath the shade of two trees.

Once they had Hans settled in comfortably, Elsa went scavenging for luggage that had been thrown from the plane. The clothes and whatever else she found in them could prove to be very useful to them. She didn't bother asking Anna for help knowing she would likely receive a nasty attitude or a dirty remark, so she curtly informed her and Hans she would be right back and got up. She didn't really want to leave the guy all alone anyway, and at least Anna would be company, though not very pleasant company. But right then she was better than nothing. None of them knew what to expect from the seemingly deserted island they landed on. As far as she could tell the area was untouched and devoid of human life. When they went searching for materials they would be needing to live off of they would soon find out whether it truly was deserted or not.

She found a few bags that were somewhat undamaged, most of them filled with clothes that probably wouldn't fit any of them. One bag had its contents spilled out along the beach: magazines, books, electronics. The books and magazines she decided could serve a purpose once they dried, but the electronics were dead and useless. She stuffed everything back into what remained of the torn bag and then hauled it all back to where Hans and Anna waited. She dropped the bags, piling them into one spot in the shade, then she set to work and started spreading things out in the sunlight so they could dry fast.

She sat down in the shade, leaning her head forward, allowing drops of sweat to drip off her face into the sand below. Elsa was hot and thirsty. She wondered if there was any fresh water around and hoped when she went to go search she would come across some. She laid down in the cool sand and looked up at the trees, imagining coconuts or bananas hanging above her. The trees were bare.

"I'm hungry," Anna complained to her left. All three of them heard the obnoxiously loud gurgle her stomach made.

The growling got Elsa thinking about her own stomach and she discovered she too was hungry. "We need to go find food. Hold on a second..." She reached for her bag and set it in her lap and then dug through all the junk in it as she searched for a survival book she had buried beneath everything. Half of the stuff she found in her bag she didn't even remember putting in, like the stuffed reindeer for example; she was pretty sure she didn't put that in her bag, which meant her little brother had done it. It was his favorite toy and for him to part with it meant a lot. She took the reindeer out and hugged it before placing it gently in the sand.

Anna eyed the plush reindeer and then leaned over to see what else was in her bag. Elsa gave her an unfriendly look, silently telling her to back off. She didn't listen, so Elsa forced herself to ignore the other girl's presence, which wasn't easy because she was practically on top of her. She could feel her breath sneaking down her neck and it was making her very uncomfortable. She shifted her weight, turned her body sideways and continued her search, hoping her brother hadn't taken anything important out of the backpack.

"Did you happen to find my bag?" Anna asked as she scooted closer, leaning so far over that their heads were almost touching. A piece of Anna's hair brushed Elsa's cheek.

Elsa pulled her head back and admonished, "Have you ever heard of a thing called personal space?"

"Uh..."

"'Cause you're invading mine, okay? Yeah. So... you know. Back away a bit, alright?"

Anna moved back, muttering under her breath. Elsa felt like saying something else but remembered that they were probably going to be stuck together for a long time. None of them knew how long it would take before a rescue team came out to save them--- if one even did. It wouldn't help if they became enemies, not that they were the best of friends at the moment. But there was no need to make things worse between them. So she swallowed down her nasty comment and dug around the items in her bag until she found the book she was looking for. It was in a protective plastic covering so it wouldn't get damaged by water. She took the cover off and stuffed it back in her bag, then she flipped open the book.

"What's that?" Anna asked dryly. "A Rudolph book?"

"No. It's a survival guide." Elsa skimmed the pages. "People use these to survive in the wild. It tells you what is safe to eat and what isn't so you don't eat something poisonous and die. As we explore we’ll be able to identify the safe and the bad."

"And if it's not in the book?" Anna questioned.

Elsa closed the book and ran her finger over the edge of the pages to create a noise that she loved to hear as the pages slapped down one on top of another at a fast rate. She tried finding a word to use for that particular sound but she could never come up with one. "If we find something that's not in the book we could always have you test it out to see if it's safe." Without waiting for a remark from the redhead, she stood. "Anna... I need you to come with me. We need to go explore and see if we can find anything to eat."

Anna leaned back on her hands. "Someone's got to wait with... uh... um...ah... Mohawk dude," she finished.

"Hans," Elsa corrected flatly.

"Whatever." Anna dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "The point is he shouldn't be left alone. I mean, someone's got to protect him. For all we know there could be rabid animals running rampant around this place."

Elsa shouldered her backpack and tucked the book under her arm. "I think Hans would have a better chance of protecting himself than you, truthfully. Now let's go, or else when I do find something I'll only bring enough back for two people," she threatened.

"That's not fair!" Anna protested. She pouted, her bottom lip jutting out, and then with a harrumph she stood up. She passed the reindeer and spotted something hiding beneath it. She picked it up and smiled. The object was a mirror! She looked at herself in the mirror and the smile was wiped away immediately. "Ooh. My hair!" she moaned, seeing how tangled and messy it was.

"Anna!" Elsa shouted impatiently.

Anna dropped the mirror and trudged toward her unhappily and they went on their search.

They didn't travel too far into the forest of trees that Elsa figured made up most of--- if not all of--- the island. She would have loved to look around more, but there would be plenty of time to explore every inch of the island as the days past. She felt certain they would be there for a while. Her main concern was to find a source of food and water. If they didn't find those necessary resources survival would be slim. She wasn't worried about not finding anything though; Elsa figured there was bound to be something edible, and with all the trees around she was almost positive there was a source of water lying somewhere, otherwise the trees wouldn't thrive as they were.

It turned out she was right. There was something edible that she managed to stumble across. She literally tripped and nearly fell into a bush that was loaded with juicy ripe berries. She discovered several more around it, checked her survival book for confirmation of whether they were safe to eat or not, and nodded. "Bingo." She had Anna stay to pick them and gave the girl her backpack so she had a place to put them, then she continued on despite Anna's feeble protests of not wanting to be left all by herself.

The farther she went the more thick and dense the forest became. It was almost like a jungle. She didn't stop and turn though, especially when she heard what sounded like the trickle of water somewhere up ahead. She surged forward, moving aside branches that impeded her progress, and then she was standing in front of a small creek. She knelt down and examined the water, checking to see if it looked healthy. It appeared clean as far as she could tell. She dipped her hands into the stream and sampled some and found it tasted fresh. Elsa hurried back to where she left Anna to retrieve a canteen she had in one section of her backpack.

When she found Anna and looked to see how far she'd gotten with the berry picking she was annoyed to find that there were not many berries in the bag. "What are you doing?" she asked. "You barely got anything."

Anna gingerly picked a berry off a branch, holding it between her thumb and pointer finger. She dropped it into the bag and slapped her hands together. "Well, I would have had a whole lot more by now if there hadn't been a nasty, gross, disgusting, ugly bug crawling up and down the branches as if it owned the bush... I don't know where it went. I think it's gone."

Elsa eyed a black beetle hanging out on Anna's upper arm and said, "Uh huh. I guess so." She took her eyes away from the beetle, trying to control the urge to smile, and said, "I found some water. It's fresh and good tasting, but we should boil it anyway. There's no telling what kind of organisms are living in it." She got her canteen, opened it and sniffed inside. It smelled like apple juice. She swallowed whatever was left and it was warm and gross and made her gag. She wiped her mouth. "I'll go fill this up, and when I come back there better be a lot more berries in there. Then we'll head back to where we left Hans and I'll try to get a fire going." Her eyes strayed to the beetle, and without another word she went back to the stream to fill up the canteen.

Elsa made it to the creek and first rinsed her canteen out before putting the cool water in and capping it. She rose, and a branch falling to her left made her look in that direction. She saw what looked like a stone wall with vines growing wildly all over it, and when she went to inspect it she found out it was actually a cave. It was dark inside the cave so she stayed at the lip of it, not daring to go any further in case there was something living inside it. If she had light...

She put the strap of the canteen around her neck so it hung in front of her, resting against her chest. She scavenged around for the materials she would need to make a fire. Elsa had gone on camping trips numerous times with her family, and her grandfather had showed her how to make fire when she was at a very young age. Now, as a teenager, she was an expert at it and almost never failed creating it.

Once she had everything she needed she got to work, and while she was working she heard a shriek that without a doubt belonged to Anna. She didn't panic or worry; she figured Anna had finally discovered the beetle on her. She concentrated on her task to make a flame. It took her at least a four minutes, almost five, before there was a spark and she had a small blaze going. She set the fire against a tall branch she found lying on the ground that had plenty of leaves still attached to it, and then she stuck her newly created light through the opening of the cave.

The cave was empty and it didn't go very far, ending at the end with a slab of gray. "Perfect," she announced out loud and started setting up a campfire inside it. After she had it made she went back to Anna and was pleased to see the bag was halfway full. She couldn't help but notice the crushed black bug in the dirt and felt bad for it. She said to Anna, "That's enough for now. I found a cave back there, not too far from the streambed. It'll be a perfect shelter for us." She took the backpack from her and zipped it up, then carefully put it on her back so as not to crush any of the berries. "Let's get Hans."

Anna groaned audibly. "Are you serious? He better walk on his own because there is no way I---" She cut herself short at Elsa's angry look and pursed her lips. She said nothing on their way back, and Elsa was thankful for that. Her patience with Anna was growing shorter and shorter and she was just about ready to pummel the girl, which was something new. Elsa was usually the peaceful type. She was always breaking up fights, never starting or jumping into one.

They returned and Elsa told Hans all about what she'd found, then told him they were moving into the cave. Hans seemed cool with the idea. "Let's go." He sat up and brushed the sand off his tanned back and puffed his chest out, wincing from the pain in his stomach but quickly removing that from his face before any of the girls could see it. He surreptitiously side glanced at them to see if either of them were checking him out. Anna was clenching her jaw as she looked into the mirror when she spotted a pimple on her face; Elsa was gathering everything together so they would have an easy time bringing everything back to the cave.

Hans sighed but didn't let their lack of attention bother him. He knew in time both of the girls would fall madly in love with him. It was only natural, after all. He was the only guy and there were two of them, and they were the only survivors of a plane crash. 

Yes, he thought, his hand absentmindedly rubbing the bandage Elsa had created over his injury. Before long he would have two beautiful girls pining for his love.


	3. Got Crabs?

The crackling of the flames was all that could be heard in the cave as the three survivors sat around the fire, all of them quiet--- except for the loud chewing produced by Anna. She was munching noisily on the berries she'd picked from the bush and it seemed like every second she was reaching into the backpack and popping a sweet berry or two into her hungry mouth as if they were popcorn. No matter how many she ate she still felt hungry and she was already getting sick of eating the same old boring thing. Anna liked variety, lived for it. How long was she going to last on this island if all they had to eat were berries? She boredly stared at the opposite wall of the cave, still busily eating, and imagined the berries were covered in delicious chocolate.

Hours had past and the sun had long since gone down. They were all tired but no one was ready to sleep just yet, though whenever one person yawned the other two followed soon after. They weren't sure what to expect and they wanted to be on guard in case a wild animal snuck up on them. Hans and Anna were the only ones who'd even had a bite to eat--- Hans ate only a few berries an hour ago and Anna had practically eaten the whole bunch in the bag. Elsa didn't eat because she had lost her appetite due to nervousness. She couldn't help thinking about all that had happened. They were really stranded on a deserted island--- at least she believed it was deserted. They didn't venture very far so she wasn't quite sure if the island held a town or some sort of civilization on it. But if they were stranded, how long could they possibly survive?

If those berries are our only food source, and at the rate she's popping them in, Elsa thought moodily, we'll probably be dead in less than a week. She cleared her throat and said, "We need to ration those berries. That could be our only food source.” She fixed her eyes pointedly on Anna.

Anna grabbed a handful and shoved them into her mouth just to piss her off. Elsa's forehead wrinkled in anger. "I'm not fooling around. Until we know what we're dealing with here, I think we should at least save what little we've found."

Hans agreed. "She's right. You should listen to her." He propped the small mirror up against the wall at an angle and started to remove some of his piercings from his face. He didn't have them anywhere else on his body, though he had planned to get one for each of his nipples on his upcoming birthday, but now he wasn't so sure that was going to happen. He would have rather kept the piercings on but he thought it was safer to take them out, at least for now. He stifled a groan as he hunched over to peer into the mirror, removing a ring from his eyebrow. His stomach hurt badly when he scrunched it up and he wanted to lay down and moan his head off in pain, but he didn't want to look like a wuss in front of the girls so he forced himself to ignore the hurt.

Anna snapped a furious look at him and an even worse one at Elsa. "Nerds, that's what you are. You're both nerds." She yawned loudly, triggering a chain reaction as it set Hans off and then Elsa.

Elsa covered her mouth as she yawned and then shook her head as her eyes started to droop. "Guys, I think we need to go to sleep now." The shirts and other articles of clothing she'd recovered from the luggage were all folded and stacked in a neat pile and she took a bundle of plain white t-shirts and tossed several to Hans and Anna. "We can use these to rest our heads on."

Anna caught hers, barely, and held them up unhappily. "Disgusting? I'm not sleeping on someone's dirty shirts."

"They are not dirty, but fine, whatever. Sleep on the cold, hard floor. I really don't give a damn." Elsa watched smugly as Anna dropped the shirts on the ground and lowered herself down so her head lay on them, complaining loudly the whole time to herself. Hans set his resting place to Anna's right and Elsa made hers to her left. Their makeshift pillows didn't have much padding in them and provided very little comfort. Still, it was better than nothing.

"There's a lot that will need to be done tomorrow so everybody try to get as much sleep as possible. Good night," Elsa said. Hans said, "Night" and Anna said nothing. Elsa closed her eyes, turning onto her side, then lying flat on her back, then her stomach, and then on her side again. She couldn't find a comfortable position and just settled with sleeping on her side in the end, her back to Anna. She waited for sleep to take her, and when she was just about to doze off she suddenly jumped and squelched a scream in her throat as Anna opened her mouth.

"What if someone else survived the crash, like a murderer, and they're out there watching us, waiting for the right moment to attack and kill us?"

Hans chuckled. Elsa turned her head to look behind her and saw Anna looking at her with wide eyes. She snorted. "You're ridiculous." She dropped her head back down to the shirt.

"It's possible. It happens all the time in movies and shows and especially in books."

Elsa sighed tiredly. "Only time will tell, I suppose. Now go to sleep." She waited two whole minutes for Anna to speak again, but the other girl was silent. Relieved, Elsa closed her eyes and once again sleep was in her grasp... until Anna piped up, "Or what if we're on some new reality TV show? Ooh, like Survivor! Does that show even exist anymore?"

Elsa groaned. "What is wrong with your brain?"

"What? It's a possibility," Anna whined.

"Hell, maybe the crash sent us into another dimension and landed us on an island with invisible people. Or maybe we'll be abducted by aliens who'll rip out our entrails and use them to flavor their soup," Elsa said sarcastically.

"Now that's just gross."

Her patience out the window, Elsa sat up and snapped, "Just shut up and go to sleep!" 

“Fine! Sheesh.” Anna fell silent, and Elsa hoped it was for good this time.

Thankfully it didn't take long for sleep to overcome Anna once she kept her lips closed. When her breathing was regular, announcing that she was out, Elsa resumed her sleeping position and a whole half an hour later she, too, was asleep.

\-----------------------

She woke up later in the night when she felt something pressed very close to her back, and when she looked she was surprised to find Anna snuggled up close to her, practically spooning her. It made her very uncomfortable and she inched away from the sleeping girl.

But in the morning she found Anna right beside her again.

Elsa sat up, leaning on her elbows, looking down at Anna skeptically. She walked backwards, crab-like, putting some distance between them. Exhaling explosively, she quietly said to herself, "She must be a sleepwalker or something." She sat and rubbed away the dirt and grit that had formed in the corner of her eyes over night and twisted her torso, first to one side and then to the other, until her back cracked loudly. The pop filled her with sudden sadness as she recalled how her little brother Olaf always pretended to be grossed out by the sound, but his giggles and wide smile revealed otherwise. Elsa deeply missed her brother and wondered how he was doing without her. Currently the young boy was staying with distant cousins in Louisiana. Elsa was the only close blood relative he had left since their parents had died in a tragic automobile pile-up just a year ago. The only reason she wasn't with him, and the only reason she had boarded the plane to begin with was because she was heading off to an important job interview.

Olaf was seven, a cute and lovable little boy who could brighten anyone's day with his impish smile and flighty laugh. He loved giving warm hugs and he always did and said the most ridiculous stuff. There was never a frown on his chubby face, nor did he ever shed tears. For a child who'd lost so much he sure had a tough and lively spirit... 

Out of nowhere there came a loud snarling noise that snapped her back to attention. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood straight up as goose bumps covered her body. She wasn't sure what it was, but it sounded mean. She scanned for something to use as a weapon and couldn't find anything within reach, though there was nothing useful in the cave anyway. All she could do was wait and listen and hope whatever created the growling was harmless...

Hans emitted a strange grumbling sound and tossed and turned. "Gah," he moaned with a grimace. He twitched and snorted before quieting down.

Elsa chuckled when she realized the growling sound had only been Hans snoring and stretched her arms up over her head to release all the tension bottled up inside her before getting up to tend to the fire. Over night it had died down and it was just about out. There were a few embers left and she threw in dry leaves and twigs, moving them around with another stick, pushing them into the embers until she got the fire going strongly again. She woke Anna and Hans up after a few more minutes because they had a lot to do.

"We'll leave everything here and look around some more," Elsa said.

"I'm going to die of starvation if I don't get something to eat besides dumb berries," Anna groused. "I can't do anything when I'm hungry! Then I just end up shaking like an old lady and I'll probably collapse." She pretended to swoon, her hand dramatically flitting to her forehead.

"You know---" Elsa started to say when Anna suddenly leapt to her feet and exclaimed, "Oh my god! I just realized something and I can't believe I forgot about it." A wide smile spread across her face and she threw out her arms. "Crabs!" Anna remembered the stupid crab that had been pinching her toe when she awoke from the accident and recalled flinging the crab somewhere after removing it from Hans's face when it had clamped onto the boy's nose after she threw it the first time. She grinned stupidly, and when she didn't get a reaction from the other two she said, "You know! Crabs."

"Oh yeah!" Hans cried, his mouth watering at the thought of eating delicious seafood.

Elsa just looked at the cave floor, kicking it with her foot. Anna’s suggestion was not exciting to her like it was to Hans and that was because Elsa was a vegetarian. The idea of catching and then killing a living creature was disgusting in her mind. She was an animal lover and hated thinking about what animals went through before they were made into food for humans. She imagined all the suffering and cruelty they endured in their short lives and it broke her heart. Worst part was, no one seemed to care. As long as they had their hamburgers and steaks, the pain animals went through was of no importance.  
Prodding the stick at the fire, Elsa quietly said, “We don’t have to kill anything to survive. Let’s hold off on crab hunting for the moment and see what else we can find. Maybe we’ll find more fruit, something other than berries.”

Anna covered her face with her hands and blew air from her mouth, exasperated. “You have got to be kidding me.” They couldn't live off just eating berries their entire time on the island. Maybe Elsa and Hans could. She physically couldn’t. Not only would it be boring to eat the same thing constantly, but if she tried to do so her body would eventually reject the food entirely. Once her mother made her eat an apple every day because she wanted her daughter to get into the habit of eating healthy foods. It was fine at first. She ate the apples no problem for the first week. After the second week, however, her stomach started acting funny after she’d eat one and she ended up vomiting afterwards. She never ate another apple again. An apple a day for her did not keep the doctors at bay.

“I bet you have no problem living off grass. And that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you want to eat grass during our stay by all means do so!" Anna walked to the luggage Elsa piled next to the neatly folded clothes and sifted through the objects inside, hoping to find a pair of shoes since she lost one of hers. She found a lot of useless junk in the bags. Frustrated, she shoved on her single shoe, leaving her second foot bare. “All I know is, I need something more than berries and I’m going to do whatever is necessary to get that something. So if it means having to kill puny crabs, so be it.” She sauntered toward the cave entrance and wriggled her fingers at Elsa, saying before she walked out, “You have fun with your berries.” Hans hurriedly followed after her.

“Damn it.” Elsa scrambled to her feet and raced after them, secretly hoping they wouldn’t succeed in catching anything living.

They left their temporary home and headed through the forest back to the beach, where for a while they searched for crabs with no luck. They looked everywhere---or so it seemed---but they came up empty. Anna scanned the beach and noticed they were in a clean area where no bodies or other objects littered the sand. She said, "We should check by the bodies." Crabs ate anything as long as it was dead--- at least, she was pretty sure that was true. Since she wasn’t an animal expert she wasn’t exactly sure, but she guessed they would find a few near the dead bodies. And even if it weren‘t true it wouldn‘t hurt to look.

Elsa and Hans were reluctant but agreed and went with her, trekking across the sandy beach, checking the sand and looking underneath rocks on the way in hopes of finding a crustacean. When they came upon the bodies they slowed, except Anna. Bile rose in her throat as she walked, taking in everything. Close to the water she saw a body wash up on shore, and there were several more on the beach that had washed up during the night. "Come on, guys," Anna said, swallowing back her nausea. "Let's look."

Hans knelt down by the smallest body--- a baby. It was so small and at first glance could have been mistaken for a doll. He poked it with a piece of tall grass he plucked from the ground by some rocks and said jokingly, "Mm. Doesn’t this look scrumptious." He laughed and looked at the girls. Elsa had an appalled expression on her face and Anna's was twisted into one of disgust. Their expressions wiped the smirk off his face and he muttered, "It was a joke."

"This isn't a joking matter," Elsa chastised sternly. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Sorry," he said, hanging his head. He rubbed the back of his neck, fingered his Mohawk and excused himself. "I have to go to the bathroom." He pivoted and hurried up a small sandy slope and disappeared into the trees.

Elsa watched him go, shook her head and carefully picked her way through the bodies. She could hear Anna making grossed out sounds every five seconds and wished she would keep quiet for once. She remembered waking up and finding the other girl by her side and she paused, looking back to where Hans had disappeared. She stepped around a woman’s body and approached Anna, deciding to confront her. "Hey, Anna. What did I tell you about personal space?" she said as soon as she was close.

Distracted, Anna glanced up at her as she moved a body with the tip of her shoe. "What? I'm not doing anything to you."

"Not at the moment, no. I'm talking about last night and this morning."

"What about it?" Elsa told her about finding her sleeping extremely close to her and she listened. After a moment of thinking Anna shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking abo--- OH! Look!" She pointed at a dead body several feet away. "I saw something move!" She dashed over to it and Elsa followed her. Anna cheered when they found a crab walking sideways on top of a dead man's chest. When it saw them it drew up its claws and tried to escape, scurrying off the side and falling into the sand. It didn't get far, however, before Anna chased it and pummeled rocks and shells at it to slow it down. "Quick! Find something I can put it in," she yelled to Elsa.

Elsa found a surprisingly intact glass jar filled with bottle caps clutched in the death grip of a boy not more than ten years old. She silently apologized as she gingerly took the jar from him and dumped the bottle caps out. She went back to Anna and the crab and scooped the small creature into the wide opening. Anna slammed the lid down and screwed the jar closed. She grabbed it from Elsa and tapped the glass. "One down, more to go." She tucked the jar under her arm greedily and went looking for more.

Meanwhile, Hans did his business and was on his way back to the beach. He got sidetracked though when he ran into a very interesting bug that fascinated him, and he had to stop to watch it. It was colorful, all different shades of green, yellow, orange, and he observed it closely. He lifted a hand and slowly inched his finger toward the bug to touch it when it buzzed suddenly and unfolded its wings. Hans squealed in surprise as it lifted off and flew straight at him. He ducked in time and heard it zip over his head. His arms were over his head protectively and he laughed, imagining how silly he looked acting as if the bug were a bomber plane about to drop explosives down on him.

He slowly stood up and looked behind him... and swore when he saw it make a wide turn, heading back in his direction. It flew right past his ear, circled around a tree with a thick trunk, and went in for another swipe. The bug had appeared harmless when he looked at it closely so he didn't really think it was dangerous, but as it came for another drive by he instinctively ran. He picked a direction to run and made dirt and leaves fly as he took off. He didn't know where he was going and didn't care at that exact moment. All he wanted to do was lose the bug.

Hans practically flew through the woods, running fast, but not as fast as he was capable of. Due to his injury his speed was brought down considerably, and the roots and other obstacles in his way weren't much help either. If he were on flat solid ground he'd lose the bug in a flash. Whether the bug was actually chasing him or not he didn't know, and he wasn't going to stop to find out.

When he broke through the forest and ended up back on the beach--- though away from where Elsa and Anna were--- he collapsed onto the sand, gasping, straining to take in fresh air. His shirtless upper area was assaulted by the sun's rays and he felt sweat break out all over his body. He lay there, unmoving, for the longest time until he was sure the bug was gone. He didn't hear or see any sign of it.

"Stupid bug," he rasped, getting to his knees. He wiped sand off him and looked around, wondering how far from the others he was. Then Hans saw something large in front of him that looked as if it has been there for a long time. He continued wiping himself down even though most of the sand that had been on him was off now, and when he realized this he stopped and got up to get a closer look at what he'd just found.

\----------------------------------

The girls were done finding crabs. They were successful in finding even more crabs after the first one and came out with a grand total of ten. The crabs wouldn't last too long and they weren't large in size, but it was enough to last them a few days.

Elsa wiped her brow and glumly wondered where Hans was. He'd been gone for an awful long time. The sun had risen completely and the heat was bearing down on them unrelentingly. She wanted to head back to the cave, where it would be much cooler. Plus, staying outside for too long wasn't a good idea because they were more susceptible to heat exhaustion, especially when they didn't have much energy.

Anna lay in the sand with the jar in her lap. She was having fun teasing and torturing the little creatures and refused to hand it over to Elsa when she asked for it politely. It bothered her when Anna shook the jar up and down and laughed as the crabs were flung around, bumping into each other and the sides of the glass hard. She felt horrible for helping Anna catch them and leaving them in the other girl’s hands. Nothing deserved to be treated that way.

"Hey!"

Both of them turned when they heard Hans shout to them. Anna stood, smirking, and when he caught up to them she said, "Must have been a real stinker, eh?"

"What? Oh. No... I---"

"Where were you, Hans? We've been waiting for you forever! I wasn't sure if you went back to the cave or if something happened to you," Elsa said.

Hans smiled. "You were worried about me, were you? Couldn't stand to have me gone for so long, I bet."

"No, I was getting impatient," Elsa said honestly, and Hans's shoulders fell with disappointment. "So where were you that whole time?"

He eyed the crab-filled jar and said, "I'll tell you back in the cave. It's too hot out here. I feel like I'm frying!" He waved a hand in front of his face, fanning himself, or trying to, but all he felt was hot air.

\------------------------

Back at the cave Hans prepared the crabs since Anna flat out refused to do so--- though she hinted she could do it if she wanted to--- and Elsa didn't have the guts to kill them or cook them over the fire even after they were dead. When she said this Anna made fun of her and called her a nature freak. "They're just crabs," she said. "They were meant to be eaten. Every living thing on this planet was made to be eaten. That's why they're so good."

Elsa ignored her and snapped her fingers at Hans. "Explain." She shifted her eyes away from the fire as he stuck a now dead crab at the end of a stick and held it over the fire to cook.

"Okay, well, I was returning to the beach where you guys were but before I made it back I was bombarded by a... a nest of huge bugs that had really sharp stingers," he fibbed. "Those things were ready to kill and the first thing I thought of was you two girls, and I knew I had to live on. So I ran until I reached the other side of the beach. And you won't believe what I found..."


	4. Planes Galore!

"This is the amazing thing you found?" Anna said flatly as they jogged across the beach to get closer to Hans’s great discovery. 

Hans hadn't told them exactly what it was he found, leaving them in suspense until they were finished eating. The way he was acting, all giddy and excited, made Anna think he found something that might actually be useful to them, perhaps even something that could help them get off the island. 

She was wrong. It turned out to be a small two engine plane that had crashed onto the island who knew how long ago. The only sign that gave away the fact that it crashed was how the bottom portion of the plane was partially imbedded in the sand. Otherwise it looked as if someone had simply parked it there and left it. It was surprisingly fully intact aside from a scatter of dents here and there and the rust that heavily peppered the body with brownish-orange grime. 

Hans babbled consistently about how cool it was on their way to it, and when it came into view he threw up his arm in a flourish and smiled triumphantly as if it were the most wonderful thing in the world. Elsa was overjoyed and intrigued by the sight of it too. Anna was the only one who didn't care about it, and of course she voiced her opinion out loud. "It's a crappy old piece of junk. Why is this discovery so incredible?"

The three stopped in front of the downed aircraft and looked it over. Elsa said, "It's not just the plane itself." She moved towards the open cabin door and cautiously peered inside. She was able to see the entire inside of the plane, including the cockpit area since there was no wall dividing them. "From the looks of it this plane didn't crash like ours did. Notice how no external parts are missing from it? The pilot of this plane landed it relatively safely, which leads me to believe that the people on board survived."

"Oh, I didn‘t think of there possibly being survivors," Hans said, moving up behind Elsa and looking inside too, leaning over her. “To be honest, I was thinking that maybe we could fix the plane up and fly ourselves home. I mean look at this beauty! It‘s practically mint! Well, if you disregard the rust and all…”

Uncomfortable with Hans hovering over her, Elsa stepped inside the aircraft to get away from him. Hans immediately started to follow her in but Anna shoved him out of the way, causing him to bump into the frame and entered before him.

Anna cast a glare at Hans. “Don’t you think if this thing was remotely fixable the people who came to the island on it would have done so?”

"They certainly had the tools," Elsa said, finding a tool box with an assortment of tools inside it, which she found tucked away underneath the pilot‘s seat. “Either they didn’t know how to repair it or it just isn‘t fixable.” She glanced at the controls and assortment of buttons on the console and tapped the fuel indicator. “It might have run out of fuel, too. If that was the case there’s really nothing they could have done about that.” 

“Ah, of course, Ms. Knowitall is also a mechanic. Not only can she heal the wounded because of her super awesome nursing skills but she can also diagnose a broken down plane’s condition and I’m betting she could even bring it back to life. Amazing, what can’t she do?” Anna said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Elsa paid her no attention, instead focusing on fiddling with the radio controls, hoping it would work and that they could radio for assistance. She played with it for a full minute but got nothing out of it. It was clearly dead so she gave up.

Anna flopped into one of the seats. On top of the table was a box. It opened easily, though the hinges whined in protest as she lifted the lid. Inside of it was a notebook, photographs, and other boring, useless papers. Anna dumped them out onto the table and took the notebook in her hands. She flipped it open, glanced at the written words, wrinkled her nose and tossed the book over her shoulder. "Garbage."

"Hey!" Elsa glared at her as she went to pick it up. "Why did you throw it?" she demanded when she had it in hand.

"Can't understand it," Anna answered simply, sifting through the pictures now. She looked one over, tossed it, then another.

Elsa peeked inside the book and saw why Anna had thrown it. The writer had written it in Spanish. Elsa studied the language in school so she understood it well and was fluent in it. She started to read when one of the photos slipped off the top of her head and landed perfectly in the crack of the notebook. When another whizzed by her face she slammed the book closed and whirled around. "What are you doing?!" she screamed.

"Nothing."

"Get out!" Elsa ordered, pointing her finger towards the opening they had come through, her body shaking with rage. "Now."

"Fine. I'll go find more crabs," Anna said with a shrug. She slipped back outside, and Elsa, still angry, took possession of the seat she had been sitting in.

Hans gathered all the pictures together and placed them in a neat pile on the table. Elsa thanked him and returned her attention to the notebook. It was a journal that one of the passengers had written in, and from what she could tell, he or she had started it the very day the plane had landed on the island. There had been only two passengers on the plane, not including the pilot, who had died even before the plane landed from a heart attack. The passenger who hadn't written in the diary had somehow managed to set the plane down safely, allowing him and his partner to live, at least for a while. She skimmed through it, trying to find anything of importance. 

Hans waited about five minutes before breaking the silence. "So what's it say?"

"The two that survived kept the plane as their shelter," she said. "They were afraid to venture too far into the forest for fear of being attacked by wild animals." Elsa also read that they drilled a hole in the fuel reserve and used the fuel that was left in the plane for other purposes. It was a saddening discovery because that meant they might have had a chance to get off the island.

"If they didn't go into the forest then what did they eat and drink?"

"Crabs, mostly. But apparently they had fishing gear with them so they caught some fish too, though when they did catch one it was rare and they weren't very big. As for the water..." She moved her finger down the page and shook her head. "They drank whatever water or beverages they had on the plane with them, and when they ran out… they resorted to drinking the sea water." Not finding anything else worth reading in the book, Elsa closed it and put it at the bottom of the box. She looked at Hans. "I imagine they died from dehydration because of that."

A loud rapping at the side of the plane caused them both to start. The knocking came again and they heard Anna shouting something. Elsa shoved herself to her feet, pushing her hands against the table to stand up. "What does she want?"

Elsa stomped out of the small plane and charged through the sand toward Anna, who stood next to the aircraft with her knuckles ready to knock again. "What is it?" she snapped, her fists clenched as she waited for whatever the other girl was going to say, expecting it to be something that would only make her angrier. And her fuse was nearly out by that point.

Anna rubbed her knuckles, red from pounding them hard against the metal body. "Ooh. Aren't we touchy?" she drawled.

"What?" Elsa said impatiently. Her nails were digging into the palms of her hands.

Anna motioned further down the beach in the opposite direction they had come from. "I thought you might be interested to know that this isn't the only plane on the island. Though it probably is the only one that isn't wrecked totally."

The island curved and continued on. Elsa and Hans looked where Anna’s hand was pointing and their eyes widened. A few yards away and somewhat blocked from their view because of trees that were leaning down so far to the ground, lying on its side by a jumble of rocks positioned on the beach was a middle section of a 747 jet plane.

"Another one," said Hans, scoffing in shock. "Is this island bad luck, or what?"

They left the smaller plane to investigate the one that Anna discovered. There was only one visible part currently, and it was black from when it had been on fire. Everything inside it was charred badly. The material crumbled under their touch, turning into ash and dropping to the floor to blend in with the black there. All the windows were smashed except one that amazingly free of cracks and holes. Or at least it was until Hans picked up a small but heavy piece of the plane that had fallen to the floor, spotted a colorful bug on it and hurled it at the window, smashing it to pieces.

"You know, the only thing we are doing is wasting time. Yeah, really, these dead planes are soo great. But they're of no use to us," Anna griped.

"You don't know that," Hans said. He glanced through one of the square windows out at the beach. He saw a shredded wing leaning haphazardly against the trees, looking as if it would fall over at any moment, and he was surprised it hadn't fallen. He scanned whatever else he could see out of his optics and did see something in the sand that started from the plane part they were in, disappeared underneath some sand, then reappeared ahead not too far from the forest. "Hey, guys." He waved the two over. "Look at that. It looks like a rope."

Elsa looked out a window closer to her, saw what he saw, and nodded, gently squeezing her chin. "Let's take a look." They clambered out of the plane part and gathered around where the rope started. It was tied around a white rock that stuck out from underneath the plane... but then they realized it wasn't a rock. It was a human bone. An arm. The hand part had broken off and was probably buried in the sand underneath. 

"That dude got pwned," Hans commented. Anna slipped out a chuckle.

Elsa tuned them out. She followed the length of the rope with her eyes and then walked beside it, following it till it came to a stop just before entering the forest. The trail didn't end there, however. A thin white string was tied to the frayed end of the rope and it continued on into the forest. From where she stood she saw it wound around thick tree trucks, the string suspended a few feet off the ground. It went in deeper but she lost sight of it. She checked over her shoulder at the other two. Hans was pulling on the radius and ulna, the bones that make up the upper arm, and Anna was saying something to him when the bones snapped and he fell back. Anna laughed at him and he threw the bones at her.

The way they were both acting disgusted her and she needed to be away from them, at least for a while. She decided to follow the string by herself and quickly strode into the woods before either of them could see her. If they wanted to find her all they had to do was follow the trail.

\----------------

Hans dug into the sand around the arm with his hands, planning on digging it out. Then he had a better idea and grabbed hold of the bone with both hands. He tugged on it, but it didn't budge, so he breathed in a lungful of air, held it, and pulled with all his might. Anna stood by going back and forth between watching him and Elsa, who was by the edge of the forest. Her eyes were on Elsa and she was chewing on her fingernails when she asked Hans, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

He grunted as he attempted another pull, lunging backwards. "If we cook the bones we could make broth, I think. I read something like that once in school. In sixth grade English."

"Cook the bones to make broth?" she said and gagged. "Gross. These are HUMAN bones in case you don't know. Plus, I don‘t think that applies to bones from old, dried out corpses…"

Hans started to reply but as his mouth opened all that was heard was a crunch as the bone came apart and he flew back, landing butt down in the sand. Anna guffawed and snorted with laughter. What a buffoon, she thought, and just missed getting pelted in the head with the bone. She looked up and saw Elsa disappear into the forest. Frowning, she flipped her hair and was annoyed at how filthy it felt. "Hey, Hans," she said.

"Yeah."

"Don’t you think Elsa‘s such a bitch?" She hated how she thought she was the smartest one out of them. And she was so demanding too! Always telling them to follow her, or pick berries, or ration that, or go to sleep. Who was she, their mom?

"Actually..." He hesitated and scratched his nose, pondering her question carefully. What he wanted to say was that Anna was the bitch, not Elsa, but he felt it was safer not dishing that bit of info out. “She’s alright,” he said with a noncommittal shrug.

Anna stared at him blankly and threw up her hands. "Whatever. Let's see what Queen Brains is up to."

\----------------------------------------------

Elsa was moving smoothly through the forest of trees, following the string trail. The whole way there she wondered where the trail would lead her to, and when she arrived at the mysterious place what would be waiting for her? Did someone want her to find something? Or was she heading straight into a trap? Momentarily she thought about turning around and waiting for the other two to come with her. She dismissed that idea almost as soon as it came to her.

She continued on, and then she walked into an area overgrown with thorny vines and her foot got tangled up in it. She stumbled and gasped as the shark fin shaped thorns dug into her ankle, and she fumbled to release herself from its grip. They were firmly attached to her though, so she stopped moving and examined her foot. The vines had managed to tightly wrap itself around her and several thorns were hidden inside her. She jerked and yanked her leg, hoping to free herself, and when the vines ripped it caught her off balance and she was propelled backwards, her back colliding into a tree. She hissed in pain as tiny sharp pieces of bark impaled her back. She sucked in a breath and shoved herself away from the tree, trying her best to brush away the pieces of bark that had lodged into her. 

Once she finished brushing herself off she unwrapped the pieces of vine still around her leg and pulled the thorns out. Elsa's hands were spotted with red smudges when she was done. The slivers of bark and thorns had made her bleed, although they were only little pinpricks and nothing serious.

Sighing, and weary with fatigue that came upon her suddenly, Elsa skirted through the woods determined to find out where the trail ended. The white string transformed into twine, and the twine turned into clear fishing wire. When the wire ended she thought that was it. There was nothing attached to the end of it. She stopped in her tracks and rubbed the area the vines and their thorns had clung to her. She absently looked around as she did this, and that was when she noticed what looked like an arrow made from sticks bunched together on the ground not five feet away from her. The stick arrow pointed ahead at another arrow, and the second arrow pointed to an area to her left.

Curious, Elsa followed the direction the arrows pointed with her eyes and saw to her surprise what looked like another cave. She inched closer slowly and observed it from afar. From where she stood she could tell it was much smaller in height than the first one she found but it was a lot wider. Anyone who sought the cave as shelter would have had to kneel or lay down because standing was out of the question unless one didn't mind being hunched over all the time.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder and she screamed and jerked her arm back reflexively as she wrenched herself away. She spun around, backing away, fists raised and ready. She lowered them when she saw who it was that had touched her.

Anna crouched on the ground, doubled over and taking in shallow, raggedy breaths. Hans stood behind her and absently touched his own stomach, thinking about how much pain he would be in if Elsa had elbowed him instead. "Thanks," Anna croaked. "Just what I needed," she groaned. She straightened up and gave Elsa a deadly look.

Heart racing fiercely after the fright bestowed upon her, Elsa shot back at her shakily, "Can't say you didn't deserve it. And it'll teach you not to sneak up on someone like that."

Hans raised a finger. "I did warn her."

Rubbing her belly, Anna looked Elsa over. "Well aren't you a bloody mess. Did a monster attack you?"

"No." Elsa frowned and nodded at the cave. "Look what I found. It's another cave. Let's go take a look---"

"Let's do this, let's do that," muttered Anna.

"---and see what's inside..."

Anna marched to the opening, glanced at the other two, and, getting down on her hands and knees, crawled inside. Elsa and Hans tensely watched and waited, alert for any bad signs. Other than their quiet breathing, the forest was dead silent. There were no birds chirping or other animal calls. Elsa was starting to wonder if any living thing other than insects and crabs inhabited the island. So far she hadn't seen or heard one since they'd been on the island. She let that thought drop from her mind for a moment and focused on the cave, as did Hans. Neither of them took their eyes off the entrance. They could see Anna's silhouette moving about from the little sunlight that managed to snake through the trees. Then even her shadow disappeared from sight.

Elsa was starting to get antsy and found herself practically hopping back and forth from one foot to the other. At the corner of her eye she saw Hans slink closer to her. He leaned sideways and said, "Don't worry. If something is in there and threatens to attack us I'll protect you." He winked and nudged her with his elbow.

"Er... um... thanks? I guess," Elsa said awkwardly and sidled away from him. He had his chest thrust out and was bending his arm, flexing his muscles. Showing off for me, she realized. She couldn't shake the feeling of repulsion that came upon her suddenly. It wasn't that Hans was bad looking; he just wasn't her type. The truth was Elsa didn't have a clue what her type was. She'd never actually gone out with any guys because she was always taking care of her little brother. She tore her thoughts from Olaf and made herself ponder over how Hans's hair was still up in an impossibly neat Mohawk.

"Hey guys!" Anna shouted from inside the cave moments later. She came out balancing a human skull in her hand and wiggled her pointer finger on her other hand to motion them closer.

Elsa paused a heartbeat but Hans bounded over to her immediately at the sight of the skull and took it from her. He whistled as he looked it over. "Nice." He poked his finger through the eye sockets and opened and closed the bottom jaw as if making it talk. He stuck his finger inside its mouth and pretended it bit his finger off.

"There's more inside. They're all huddled up together at the back of the cave," Anna said to Elsa as she moved up. "I counted about eight." She grabbed the skull back and tossed it up in the air and caught it again as it descended back down. She rolled it back into the cave like a bowling ball and they heard it rolling along the cave floor before it cracked loudly into a wall. She smacked her hands together before casually putting them in her pants pockets and stepped aside so Elsa could get a look inside.

"Is there anything else in there?" Elsa asked, turning her head to look at her.

Anna nodded. "There's an axe in there, actually. It's in pristine condition too. No rust on it whatsoever. There’s a bunch of other crap, too, but as far as I can tell it's just junk." She crawled back into the cave and Elsa followed so she could see everything with her own eyes. Hans hung back and checked out their backsides as they wriggled inside.

The first thing Elsa saw was the bundle of bones and old clothes bunched together like Anna had said by the back wall. A few of the skeletons were still intact and slumped against the wall, but most of the bones were jumbled and mixed up. It was eerie seeing all the bones together like that and she couldn't help thinking that the cave was haunted. She didn't necessarily believe in things like ghosts or other unnatural beings though. Still, she felt uneasy, so she looked away from the bones and spotted a bunch of junk piled by an opposite wall where Anna was crouching by. In her hands was the axe she had mentioned. It had a wooden handle and the blade part was red, the tip silver. It looked almost brand spanking new.

"Weird, huh?" Anna said, stroking the blade.

Elsa agreed and checked out the stuff in front of them but all she saw were little pieces of a plane, old branches, crumbly leaves, and rocks. Like Anna said, nothing but junk. Since there was nothing else in the cave that was worth their attention there was no point in them staying any longer. She was eager to return to the intact plane for the toolbox and to possibly salvage some of the parts inside the aircraft. They could take apart the seats and use them as beds. It would definitely be more comfortable to sleep on than flimsy shirts… 

Anna clucked her tongue. "Leaving so soon? Don't tell me you're afraid of the dead people."

"There’s no reason to remain so we might as well leave."

"Good excuse." Anna smirked. She lowered the axe to the floor and crossed over to wear the skeletons lay and picked up another skull. Holding it with two hands, she approached Elsa and shoved it close to her face. "If you’re not afraid then give it a kiss," she dared. 

Elsa grimaced. "You’re sick. I’m not doing that. Now let's go."

"Come on, it's not difficult to do," Anna pressed. "Unless of course you're chicken…”

Elsa pushed past her roughly and exited the cave. She charged out and walked right past Hans, who had been sitting on the ground drawing in the dirt with a twig. He stood as soon as he saw her come out and started to say something to her but she walked right on by, fuming. Anna emerged seconds later, a smug smile on her face, the axe balanced on her left shoulder. "What did you do?" he asked her and matched her stride as they headed back to the beach.

Anna laughed robustly, clearly enjoying getting a rise out of the blond. It was certainly the highlight of her day. "I asked her to do a simple thing and she nearly pissed her pants! Ran out of that cave with her tail between her legs, the coward."


	5. Opposites Attract

~Three Weeks Later~

Things were moving well for the small group considering they were stranded on an island for as long as they were. They spent a lot of time scouring the island, and while no more planes were found on their quests they did stumble upon more random bodies, or at least what remained of them. Over time the group collected as much salvageable items as they possibly could to make their stay on the island more comfortable and their cave more cozy and livable. 

Currently the three were hunting for more crustaceans on the beach. The supply they had hunted the other day had escaped while they were sleeping because Hans knocked the jar over during one of his tossing and turning fits. The lid hadn't been closed properly and the crabs got away.

Hans wandered closer to the water to do his search, whistling some odd tune and kicking at the wet sand as his eyes swept the ground. His Mohawk was still puzzlingly in pristine shape…

Anna was by a clutch of rocks, overturning and checking underneath them, each time coming up empty. Her coppery mane was a mess, with strands poking out in every possible direction. It was getting in her way and frustrating her to the point where she just wanted to rip it out of her head. She gathered her hair together and pulled it back, wishing she had a hair tie to keep it out of her way. The annoyance evident on her face was not just because of her hair though. She was furious with Hans for letting the crabs they had caught get away. "It's not easy finding them, you know!" she'd yelled at him earlier.

Elsa sifted her hands through the sand, digging small holes the size of her fist, searching for crabs that might have burrowed underneath. Her blonde hair was damp with sweat and she longed to take a quick dip in the ocean but stayed planted where she was. Every once in a while her eyes would roam and lock on Anna, but only for a split second. She dropped her gaze almost immediately. 

Truthfully, Elsa didn't know what to think of the other girl. From the very beginning Anna had been nothing more than a nuisance, mouthing off one complaint after another, and it got on her nerves so much. Anna was always cracking jokes too, always making fun of her about something and calling her rude names. Recently she’d taken to calling Elsa the Ice Queen or Her Majesty and even going so far as to bow or curtsey after her remark with a stupid smirk plastered on her face.

And then there were those moments while they were sleeping. Elsa would park herself nowhere near Anna but in the middle of the night or early morning the redhead would be resting right up against her. There had also been a time when she awoke to find Anna's arms completely encircling her! Moving away never helped because the other girl would without fail always end up by her side again, and once Elsa even tried to stay up to catch her in the act, but she couldn't keep her eyes open for very long and passed out. 

The closeness had bothered Elsa at first, but she soon, strangely enough, found herself actually liking it, looking forward to it and even expecting it…

Her heart made a fluttering movement and she ripped her eyes off the other girl after realizing she was once again looking at her and put all her concentration back to her task. She dug more deeper into the sand. "I hate her," Elsa told herself out loud but in a soft whisper so Anna and Hans wouldn't overhear, even though they were too far away to hear her anyway. "She's annoying and nothing but a trouble maker."

\-------------------------

Hunting took them all day and was an utter failure. They returned to the cave empty handed. 

"This sucks. Now we have nothing to eat thanks to loser face there," Anna growled, sitting on her knees by the air-filled jar. She was hungry and bored, and when she was bored she liked to entertain herself by bothering the crabs. There was usually at least one in the jar to keep her busy.

"It wasn't my fault!" Hans said defensively. "The lid wasn't screwed on right. And we have berries to eat." He dipped his hand into the backpack they kept their berry stash in and fished around for some of the juicy fruit but he came up empty. "Or we would have some if we'd remembered to go picking before the sun set."

Anna snorted. "If I remember correctly you were the one who finished off the berries too." She put the jar aside not too gently and picked up a handful of small rocks lying by the fireplace. Centering her attention on a clam shell placed on the cave floor by the wall a few feet away from her, she gave the rocks in her hand a good shake, crashing them together with a crack. She plucked one up, firmly set her eyes on the shell, clenched her jaw, and tossed it. The rock flew, bounced once, and missed the goal. She mouthed off several explicit words and dropped the rocks angrily, scattering them all over the place.

Elsa picked up a rock that had made its way close to her and rolled it in her hand, feeling it tickle her palm. She closed her hand into a fist, covering the rock, and said, "Maybe we should try building a raft. We might be able to sail to the nearest island. There's got to be one that has people on it, surely. We could use the axe to chop down some trees for the base of our raft.”

A chortle erupted from Anna's mouth. She picked at a hangnail on her thumb. "Good luck with that."

"The twine and rope we found could be used to tie the wood we chop together. I'm pretty good at tying knots," Elsa said. Sometimes she was too good at it. She tended to tie her shoes so tightly she could hardly get the knots undone.

"Whatever," was Anna's dull response..

Under her breath, Elsa muttered, "You're so irritating."

Anna heard her. "Yeah, well, you're stupid."

“Oh, really?” Elsa stood up and hovered over her. "Then why is it that I'm the one who's taken charge and helped us get through this? You’ve literally done NOTHING of use the whole time we’ve been stuck here!"

Anna jumped to her feet and laughed in her face. "Excuse me? You’re joking, right? You’re one to talk considering nothing you've done so far has helped us all that much! Clearly we’re still stuck on this stupid island! Oh, I’m sorry, you did inform us what was safe to eat and what's not but that's because you read it in your stupid guide book. Without that what good would you be? Oh yeah, I almost forgot! You know first aid! Why don't I go bash my head against the wall until my brain leaks out and then you can patch me up! Or do I have to do it myself again?" she spat. Stabbing herself in the chest she said, "I'm the one who brought up the crabs, by the way! And I'm the one who finds them too, so don‘t tell me I haven‘t done anything!”

"There's bound to be crabs on a beach, genius! It‘s not rocket science! I would have---"

"You were against the idea to begin with!” Anna snarled, her hands curling into fists. “We‘d all be dead right now if we listened to you and chomped strictly on berries! And your raft idea? Pathetic! Attempting it would be suicidal because you don‘t know how far away the nearest island is! Do us all a favor and quit acting like you know everything and shut your stupid mouth already!"

“You're telling me to shut up? You’re the one who needs to shut up! All you do is whine and complain constantly and it’s always over meaningless things! If it's not about your stupid shoes, it's about your hair or your grumbling stomach. There’s always something and I’ve had enough of your shit!” Elsa seethed. 

Hans watched them exchange angry words back and forth, his head swiveling from Anna to Elsa and back excitedly. It was the most action he'd seen in a long time and the thought of calming them down didn‘t enter his mind once. The girls screamed at each other heatedly and were getting right up in each other's face. Then Anna forced her hands against Elsa’s shoulders and shoved her roughly. 

Elsa stumbled back a few steps, breathing heavily. Her eyes darkened and any patience and self control she had left abandoned her. A build up of anger consumed her and she hissed, "Bitch!" 

Then all hell broke loose.

Elsa stomped right up to Anna and swung a balled fist at her, but Anna ducked in time and the fist grazed the top of her head harmlessly, strands of her red hair whipping up and whirling around from the wind effect. 

Anna lifted her head and her eyes were smoldering with a fiery rage. She looked ready to kill. The redhead grabbed the next fist aimed at her and bent the arm back until the blond cried out in pain. She let go and lowered her head and rammed into Elsa, getting her right in the stomach. What air Elsa had in her was forced out in a whoosh and she crumpled forward and Anna took the chance to place a kick in her side and was about to strike again but Elsa rolled out of the way in time and all she ended up kicking was air. 

Rolling to her feet while at the same time trying to take in huge gasps of air, Elsa's hand found a rock, and she hurled it with all her strength in Anna‘s direction. Her aim was horribly off and the rock missed the target and Elsa ended up having to dodge a clam shell when it came speeding towards her. It smashed against the wall behind her and, distracted by the shattered remnants of the shell, Elsa was completely unprepared and yelped when a rock connected with her arm, stinging her.

Anna rushed forward and flung herself onto Elsa with a grunt, causing her to slam into the wall hard. Elsa grabbed a fistful of red hair and started to pull on it and then she felt hands grab her own hair and yank hard. Then they were tearing into each other, scratching, kicking, biting. Nails raked across skin, teeth bit into flesh, feet connected with shins, curse words were thrown carelessly back and forth.

With surprising strength Anna pinned Elsa to the wall and was holding her in place with her lithe body. Their heads were very close, their lips inches apart, breaths rushing out harshly.

"Stupid little f---"

"Son of a b---"

Whatever words they had started to say were cut off as Anna plunged her lips onto Elsa's. 

Hans's jaw dropped in astonishment and he bolted into a sitting position. "Whoa." He rubbed his eyes, unsure of whether he was seeing things or not. 

He wasn't. 

The girls were in a strong lip-lock. Elsa's scratch-marked arms went up and encircled Anna's neck, deepening the kiss while Anna rested her hands on Elsa's waist, pulling her against her body so their torsos fit together perfectly. Their tongues fought fiercely, wet lips touching.

Anna lightly bit Elsa's lip and Elsa's eyes flashed open and she released a sharp gasp and tore her head away. Very aware of what just happened, she retracted her arms hastily and twisted away from the other girl, putting distance between them. Shakily, she lowered her body to sit by the fire. 

Crossing her arms, Anna moved so she was crouching next to her. Bringing her mouth close to her ear, she whispered, "I win." Before pulling away she nipped Elsa’s ear and then she went to her makeshift bed.

Elsa swallowed, glanced in her direction, then looked at Hans. He stared back at her wide-eyed. "There's something wrong with that whole picture," he said. "Two beautiful, gorgeous girls and one sexy guy... You're supposed to fight over me! And kiss me…"

"You're so full of yourself," Anna said crisply from her spot. She rolled onto her stomach and closed her eyes, smiling ever so slightly as she relived the moment that had just taken place in her mind.

Hans shrugged, winked at Elsa, lifted his hand and stuck his thumb up. He, too, went to his bed and also pictured the whole exciting scene in his head. Only instead of the girls kissing each other he put himself between them so they were kissing him instead.

Still shaky from the whole experience, Elsa remained near the fire, dazed and confused. She poked at the flames with a twig for a while and only moved to go to bed herself when the other two were sound asleep.

\-------------------------

The next night Elsa excused herself and traveled through the woods in the dark with a towel thrown over her shoulder and a cloth used for washing in one hand. Pale moonlight helped her through the forest and the path she and the others had created guided her as well. She relied mostly on the path because what little moonlight shown through the branches and leaves of the trees only lit up certain spots. The path was nearly spotless and had no rocks, branches, vines or anything that could make them trip or fall. The path ran down all the way to the beach, which was the direction Elsa was going. She was in need of a bath and the ocean was their tub.

Once on the beach she went by a circle of oversized rocks and set the towel down on top of one. Then she stripped off all her clothes and folded them neatly before piling them on another rock. She crossed her arms over her bare chest and looked out at the ocean. Strangely she felt content about everything. In a weird way she actually liked being stranded on an island, away from all civilization. Sure, she was missing things like good food and hot, steamy showers but she really didn‘t mind being without those luxuries so much...

What Elsa missed the most was her brother, Olaf. Her little brother was probably devastated by her absence and she needed to find a way to get back to him soon. The island was small and didn't have enough to support them for very much longer anyway. Crabs were increasingly becoming harder to find and all the berries were almost plucked from the bushes available to them. Not to mention the stream that gave them fresh water seemed to be growing increasingly smaller and smaller every time she saw it. It was bad news and she knew they had to figure something out quick before it was too late. She was still considering the raft idea. With no sign of rescue coming any time soon, it was looking to be their only option, as risky as it was…

Elsa walked to the water’s edge and shivered as the cold salt water lapped at her feet. She sucked in her breath and forced herself farther into the water until it reached her middle section and then waded farther still until her shoulders were immersed. She sighed and let her body relax, the water appearing to grow warmer as her body adjusted to the temperature, and the warmth soothed her so much that she allowed her eyes to close. Her feet touched bottom so she didn't have to worry about drifting away.

\----------------------------

Anna had waited at the cave with Hans. She was bored, as usual, and so was he, so he decided to take it upon himself to entertain her. He suddenly burst out singing about open doors and sandwiches and pranced around acting as if he were playing a guitar and she just sat watching him with narrowed eyes. When he started shaking his butt she hightailed it out of there and soon found herself following the same path Elsa had taken. It wasn't long before she emerged from the cover of the trees. She saw Elsa's silhouette in the water and quickened her pace, only stopping till she reached the wet sand. She didn't say anything, just stood and watched passively.

Elsa turned her head and gasped, jumping slightly in the water. "Oh. Anna," she said and gulped, her face flushing terribly. "When did--- How long---"

"Mind if I join you?" Anna asked lightly, pushing the tip of her big toe deep into the squishy wet sand. She rubbed her left arm and looked down at the ground as if shy, and a hank of her red hair fell into her face. She made no move to push it away.

"I-I... guess... I mean, no. Go ahead," Elsa stammered.

Anna smiled and started to undress. Elsa modestly shifted her eyes away and turned so her back was facing her. She heard the soft sound of clothes hitting the sand and then the splash as Anna got in. Even though she could have walked, Anna swam to join Elsa‘s side. Water sprayed everywhere when she shook her head to clear the water that streamed down her face. She looked up at the moon and stars and said conversationally, "This is great, isn't it? Taking a bath under the light of the moon. Only thing missing is the soap and shampoo."

"Yeah." Elsa scrubbed the dirt off her arms and moved the cloth up to her shoulders. Self-consciously she continued washing herself, though the feeling of Anna's eyes on her the whole time made her nervous. She tensed up when she heard the water churn and slosh as Anna came closer. She turned her head so she could see her out of the corner of her eye.

"Want me to do your back?" asked Anna.

"No... thanks. I've got it covered."

But Anna inched even closer until she was right behind her, practically on top of her. "I'm not going to bite... much." She plucked the washcloth from Elsa's trembling fingers easily and very gently rubbed her back with it. "You're tense, Elsa. Why don't you relax a little?" she whispered, her breath caressing the back of Elsa's neck as she wiped her back with long strokes. She strayed to her shoulders after a moment, rubbing one, then the other. At some point she dropped the cloth and massaged her neck and shoulders to relieve the tension that stiffened them. Her hands moved down Elsa’s arms and she lowered her lips to Elsa's neck as her arms wrapped around her waist and hugged her body closer.

A squeal crept out from between Elsa's lips and she violently broke away from Anna's embrace with a huge splash. Breathing heavily she said, "Stop that!"

"What?"

"What you're doing!"

Anna flashed a devilish smile. "Oh, come on. You like it. You did kiss me, after all."

Elsa shook her head emphatically. "No! You kissed me."

Anna shrugged. "Maybe. But... you didn't object right away, did you? In fact--- and correct me if I'm wrong--- but I do recall you returning the kiss with vigor." She cocked an eyebrow, daring Elsa to deny her claim.

Elsa said nothing and Anna took that as a cue to pull her back to her. "There's nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of," she said in her ear huskily. She delved a hand between them, brushing against Elsa's smooth stomach. Elsa sucked in her breath as her hand ventured even lower. She placed her hand on top of Anna's, stopping her. She started to say something but was broken off as Anna pushed her head toward her own forcefully, pressing their lips together. When Elsa's hand slipped and uselessly fell away to her side Anna smiled mischievously against her lips, not breaking away from the kiss, and because there was nothing stopping her, her hand continued its descent downward. She knew she had the blond now.

Elsa tensed and gasped sharply, biting her lip. Anna held her in place with an arm around her waist and their eyes met, Anna's full of lust and desire, and Elsa's held nothing but shock. That shock quickly changed into pleasure as the feisty red-head went to work, her tempo slow and steady at first. She increased the pace and Elsa fell against her, clinging to her and giving in.


	6. A Storm Rages On

"It doesn't look good," Hans commented, shielding a hand over his eyes from a sun he couldn't see as he looked up at the sky covered in dark gray clouds. "Looks like a storm is coming."

The three were once again on the beach hunting like they'd been doing since they'd been on the island, but recently every time they went looking they came back with nothing. It seemed as if the crabs disappeared off the island. They'd even set up traps and left them over night, hoping to find something in them when they checked the next day. They were always empty, not so much as a speck of sand in them. No food meant they were all left terribly hungry and tired. Their empty stomachs kept them awake during the nights. 

The threat of a brewing thunderstorm stopped them from doing what they were doing and they all stood looking up at the sky. In the distance there were flashes of lightning, and though it was low, Elsa was able to hear the rumble of thunder. The whole time they'd been on the island, not one storm had come. She wasn't sure whether to look forward to it or not, but truthfully she was dreading it. It seemed to her that whenever a storm came something bad would usually follow as a result. 

The only good thing about the storm was the rain that would come with it. Hopefully it would help build up their water supply, which was dwindling down to nothing but a small trickle. Elsa watched the storm clouds move alarmingly quick and got a chill as the dark clouds became even darker and more scarier. A sudden flash of lighting right above them and the crash of thunder made her gasp and flinch and instinctively cover her head with her arms. "Back to the cave!" she shouted.

Anna cackled as they ran through the forest back to their shelter. Each crackle of thunder, which was very loud and shook the ground with force, made Elsa and Hans cower even lower, making them run awkwardly. By the time they reached the cave Anna was already there waiting for them, rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Oh, man. You two looked pathetic!" she squeezed out between her laughter. Once she settled down somewhat, she gasped out, "Would have been hilarious if you were still wearing your piercings, Hans! You would have lit up like a Christmas tree if you got struck!"

"Shut up," he groused, lying down on his bed and covering his face with a Hello Kitty shirt.

Elsa huddled by the cave wall, pressing herself as close to it as possible, her fingers plugged into her ears to drown out the rolling thunder above. Anna came over to where she was and sat next to her, putting an arm around her to comfort her. With her peripheral vision she saw Hans sneakily lift a corner of the shirt off his face, giving him access to watch them. She ignored him and rubbed Elsa's arm to soothe her and brushed a strand of her blond hair away from her face. 

The two had gotten a lot closer after their first kiss and skinny-dipping rendezvous, although Elsa still had mixed emotions about Anna. Her attitude was still the same but there were times when she was gentle, like now. She still hated her somewhat, but there was a part of her that also liked her in a weird way, too. It was all too confusing for Elsa.

"Are you afraid?" Anna asked cuddling her, dragging the tips of her nails along Elsa's arm, tickling her.

"Yes," Elsa said almost child-like, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"You're serious?" Anna said, amusement evident in her voice and grinning face.

Elsa frowned and pulled away. "Yes. I've never liked thunderstorms," she said indignantly. "They always bring bad luck." Once during a storm she had gone outside to put garbage in the can by the side of the house. She'd just put the bag in the can and the air around her felt as if it were filled with static. Then a fast, bright bolt zipped down and struck a metal pole on the chain-link fence, not far from where she'd been standing. She was thrown to the ground and had stayed there, afraid to move, until one of her parents came out and carried her back inside. But the main reason she was fearful of thunder storms was because it had been one that caused her parent’s death. A lightning bolt had struck a light post on a busy highway and the post fell directly onto the road. Cars careened out of the way to avoid the pole and ended up plowing into other cars instead, which in the end created a big pileup. Elsa was told that her parent’s car had been clipped, flipped over, and rolled, coming to a stop on its roof. Then a tractor-trailer barreled into them. Elsa broke down, her entire body shaking with her sobs as she shared this information with Anna, who by that point had moved so she was holding her once again.

Anna shifted to get into a more comfortable position but didn't relinquish her hold on Elsa. She was quiet, thinking in her head what the proper words to say would be. "Elsa. Have you ever considered the possibility that you just might be bad luck?" she said teasingly. Then, deadpanned, "You're too paranoid. Just because you were almost struck by lightning and your parents were killed in a pileup caused by a lightning bolt doesn't mean bad luck. Ever heard of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Other than the thunder, it was relatively quiet outside. Then the pitter patter of rain was heard, and the sound steadily increased as it quickly transformed into a downpour. Big globs of water crashed through the tree tops and landed with loud, audible plops, quickly muddying the ground. The occupants in the cave watched silently, and after a while fatigue overcame Elsa and her eyes drifted closed. She didn't have them closed for long, however, for Hans cried out suddenly, startling her so much that she jumped, which in turn caused Anna to jolt in her spot. She and Anna looked on in shock as he leapt to his feet and ran out of the cave. Just like that, for no apparent reason. Befuddled, they looked at each other as if asking, "What was that all about?"

Anna shook her head and muttered, "He's a head case."

What seemed like an hour later but was actually less, a drenched Hans returned. He was soaked to the bone. Water dripped off him and puddled at his feet, creating a mini pool. His clothing clung to his body, and for once his Mohawk was no more. His hair was flattened out on his head. What the ocean water couldn't break down, the torrent of rain water had accomplished with ease.

He stood at the entrance, water seeping out of him, a sheepish smile plastered across his face. He shook himself, spattering rain water in every direction and slicked a hand through his dribbling hair. Anna arched an eyebrow. "Mind explaining what that was about?"

"Uh... I thought I saw a squirrel."

"A squirrel," Anna repeated flatly. None of them had sighted any animals other than crabs on the island.

"Yeah... but it turned out to be a jumble of leaves rolling by..." He shrugged, kicked the ground once, and then he resumed the position he had been in before running out, the Hello Kitty shirt was back in place over his face, though this time he left no opening to peek through.

\-------------------------------------------

The forest was a mess when they exited the cave the next morning. The ground was covered in a blanket of leaves and underneath was nothing but mud, which sucked them under up to their ankles when they stepped into it. Anna uttered a curse and attempted to shake the mud off and backtrack back to the cave, but it stayed caked on no matter how hard she shook. Downed trees leaned precariously against other trees which blocked them from falling during the storm. Hans wanted to climb up one that had a steep slope and Elsa voiced her objection.

"It's not safe, Hans. Don't even think about climbing it," Elsa warned. "You'll only get yourself hurt."

Throwing in her two cents, Anna stated, "I could really care less."

Hans's shoulders slumped. Elsa shook the canteen in her hands but heard no sloshing water inside. She needed to refill it. "I'm going to go fill this up. Behave while I'm gone."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Anna quipped. Elsa pretended not to hear her and left. Once she was out of sight Anna tromped back to the cave, leaving Hans behind by the inclined tree. She didn't care what he did as long as he didn't bother her. She really wished he never survived the crash. Oh, why couldn't he have died, she thought glumly. Then she wouldn't have to hold back when around Elsa. They could do anything they wanted without having another set of eyes watching their every move. Secretly she hoped Hans would do something stupid that would hopefully take him out of the picture permanently. She sighed a hunger sigh and felt her stomach growl a complaint. To take her attention off Hans and her hunger pains, Anna thought about Elsa. Was it safe going out there all by herself? What if a tree toppled over and crushed her? That would be unfortunate.

\--------------------------------------

Hans walked up the leaning tree and sat on its trunk. He dropped his chin into his hands. It was funny, he always thought being stranded with two or more women would be the greatest thing in life, but it was happening to him and it didn't feel great. In his dreams he always pictured it differently. The women hounded over him and fed him fruits picked from the trees and they couldn't keep their hands off him... Then again, in his dreams he was muscular and tan. In his dreams he looked nothing like the way he did now--- not very impressive muscles, and an unattractive scar on his stomach. His tan, however, was great since he was constantly out in the sunlight, but before he'd gotten onto the island he was rather pale.

He told himself he shouldn't be complaining about the girls not liking him or fawning over his every word. Really, he didn't care. At least not anymore. That's because he'd been thinking a lot about his girlfriend of three years waiting for him back home, Laurie. She was a cute girl, very shy and timid. He was drawn to her the first time he saw her. He loved her, and he felt ashamed of his actions on the island, stupidly trying to impress Anna and Elsa.

The reason Hans boarded the plane was because he was on his way home. He'd ordered something for Laurie overseas and went to pick it up personally, afraid if he had it shipped to him it would either get stolen or somehow lost. The present he had bought for her had been a special surprise, a custom made ring that had dazzling rainbow jewels surrounding the entire outside. The jewels were real. The ring wasn't cheap. He was going to give it to her as an engagement ring when he returned home... but the ring was no longer with him and had been lost during the crash. He chuckled at the irony of it.

Thinking of Laurie made him sad, and he thought a good way to make him feel better would be if he ascended the knocked over tree. It would be exciting and he‘d feel like a man, at least for the moment. Hans faced the tree and hauled himself onto it. He climbed up a bit and the wet bark was slippery and hard to stand on, so he straddled it and forged on, inching his way up the slanted tree just because he wanted to. Elsa's warning crossed his mind but he ignored it and climbed until he was halfway up. When he stopped he clenched his thighs and held on tightly with his legs, taking his hands off the tree and raising his fists in triumph. "Oh yeah! I did--- Whoa!"

He lost his balance, his arms flailing crazily as he tried to prevent himself from going over. Hans's body slipped to the side and he frantically grasped the tree with his hands, but he couldn't get a grip and ended up toppling off, plunging towards the ground. His scream followed him down.

\--------------------------------------

There was nothing left.

That wasn't precisely true. When Elsa came to the area their water source usually was she did find something. What she found was mud, mud, and more mud. What had been left of their shrinking water supply was now completely gone, absorbed into the dirt to create the brown mushy substance. As she stared at it, she found herself thinking of chocolate and how sweet and good it tasted and how it felt when it melted in her mouth...

Subconsciously while she was thinking of chocolate she had picked up a handful of mud and licked some off the top. She spat the muck out of her mouth and shook off the amount she had in her hand. Elsa wanted to scream out loud as she made her way back with an empty canteen in hand. She felt worse and worse each step she took. "The rain was supposed to help us," she said wearily as she trudged on. Instead it had shortened their chance of survival drastically. With no water they would surely die in a matter of days. She dug through her brain for alternatives. Drinking the salt water wasn't a good idea and would in fact lessen their lifespan... There were methods to remove some of the salt content to make it safer to drink, but Elsa really didn't want to consider the sea water. Unfortunately it was looking like their only option. If only they had prepared better... They could have set the jar they kept their crabs in out while it was raining along with some plane scraps to catch the water, but the threatening thunder and lightning had caused her to not think properly. She cursed herself for her mistake. 

An agonizing cry snapped her out of her thoughts and she sped up, double time. Dread lodged inside her throat but she swallowed it down almost immediately when she figured out what had probably happened. Hans hadn't listened to her and climbed up the damn tree. Now he was either dead or seriously hurt, making their bad situation even worse. She didn't know which she preferred.

Anna was standing a foot away from Hans when she found him, a lopsided grin sketched across her face. She dropped it hastily when Elsa appeared. "I swear, he's like an ignorant child," she said, throwing her thumb in his direction. "He's gone and broken his leg."

Hans was lying down, his leg bent at an unnatural angle beneath him, proving Elsa had been right about him climbing up the tree. He was dirty with mud and gritting his teeth to hold back his cries. He was unsuccessful at holding back his tears, however. "It wasn't my fault," he whined. "It was slippery."

Anna feigned shock. "No way! You're kidding?"

Tiredly, Elsa dropped down beside him. She checked his leg and sighed heavily, shaking her head. "There's nothing I can do, Hans. I have no way to set it... You're going to have to deal with it until help arrives." She added bitterly, "If it ever does." She hung her head between her legs and breathed in and out. She and Anna would have to take him back to the cave and he'd be in excruciating pain if they tried to move him, but what choice did they have?

"MOTHER FUCHILLA!" Hans exploded when they tried to lift him off his leg. Neither of them stopped what they were doing, choosing to ignore his pain filled screams.

"You got him?"

"ARG! AH!"

"Yeah. I have him."

"EEEEEEHHH!!"

"Whoops. My bad. Okay. Now I have him."

"OOOOHH!"

"Alright. Let's move quickly."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The girls carried him the short distance to the cave, trying not to slip or fall in the mud. They got Hans safely back and set him down by the fire. Anna was itching to just dump him on the ground but stopped herself in time and lowered him down the same time Elsa did. Elsa threw some dry bark and leaves into the flickering fire, allowing the flames to grow. She then tried making Hans as comfortable as possible, but the pain from his twisted leg was too great and he was continuously writhing around and moaning in agony. 

It was severely irritating Anna. "He won't be in pain if he's unconscious," she pointed out, looking for something to use to pound him with, her eyes dropping to her shoes on her feet.

“Yes,” Elsa agreed, adding, “but sleep isn’t going to come to him readily in this condition…”

"Who said anything about sleep?” Anna said coolly, pulling off one shoe and then crying out with a gasp, pointing behind them, “Oh my god! What IS that?"

Hans and Elsa simultaneously looked where she was pointing. Once they had their backs turned Anna leapt in and whammed Hans in the head with her muddy shoe. It connected with a thwap and mud splattered in separate directions.

"Ow!" Hans cried, rubbing his head and wiping the mud that was left on it onto his filthy pants. "What the hell is your problem?"

"Damn." Anna regarded her shoe, turning it over in her hands. Then she smacked him again, putting more effort into it. She got the same response from him once more and was about to administer another blow when Elsa grabbed her upper arm to stop her and forced her to lower the shoe.

"What," Elsa began, keeping her voice as controlled as possible, "are you doing?"

"I think I figured out why your warning never went through," Anna said instead of answering. "His skull is too thick." She dropped her shoe and it splatted when it touched the ground, mud blossoming out around the sole. Her expression shifted to one of alarm and her jaw dropped. "Oh my god! What is THAT?!" she breathed.

As she said this she stared directly at Hans, which understandably made him uneasy. "What?" he asked nervously as she gaped at him. He sensed it was another one of her tricks, but he couldn't really believe that because she looked genuinely surprised about something. He touched his face, wondering if maybe there was a bug on him. Perhaps the same bug that had chased him not too long ago…

"That!" Anna shrieked, and punched him in the face full force. This was efficient enough to knock him cold. His whole body went slack and he was motionless, much to her delight. She bumped her toe into his injured, outstretched leg and got no reaction from him. Massaging her knuckles and flexing her fingers, Anna assessed her work before meeting Elsa's puzzled stare. A sensual smile developed upon her face, curving the sides of her lips upwards, and she draped an arm around her shoulders. "Elsa, I did him a favor, alright? So don't bitch at me." 

She nudged him again. "Actually, I did us all a favor. Hans will be able to rest for a while with no pain until he wakes up again and we won't have to hear him moaning." She frowned. But it was gone almost instantly as a new thought entered her mind. A twinkle shined in her eyes and she licked her lips before saying, with a throaty growl, "But I wouldn’t mind certain sounds escaping from between your sweet lips."

Elsa smiled faintly. It was the only thing she could manage, for what words she wanted to speak were trapped within her, unable to emerge for a reason she couldn't fathom. Perhaps it had to do with the way Anna looked at her, or the throaty sound she made when she spoke her last words. She inhaled and exhaled to calm her nerves and finally found her voice. "I don't think---"

Anna silenced her with a finger to her lips. She firmly pushed her back until she was laying down, and then she moved in, placing herself so her body was covering the length of Elsa's. Her hands placed on either side of her head, Anna leaned in for the kiss... but didn't go through with it. She hovered above her, caressing the side of her face with slow even strokes of her finger tips. Her warm breath breezed along Elsa's cheek and she nuzzled her neck, sighing contently. She allowed her lips to graze Elsa's, though barely, and murmured, "Do you love me?"

The question made Elsa really think. Did she love Anna? She found her body reacting positively whenever they were together. Memory of their time on the beach not too long ago made her blush. But the mind and body were separate things. Just because she felt good with her didn't mean she loved her. She wasn't sure how she felt about Anna, so she answered truthfully. "I don't know."

"Ah. I see." Anna pursed her lips together tightly and shrugged indifferently. She wasn't satisfied with the answer, but what could she do about it? She smiled cheekily and said in a smooth, determined tone, "You'll love me. I know it." With that she crushed their lips together, kissing her hard and long. Elsa gave in to the brutal kiss while at the same time forcefully pushing her away, taking Anna aback. She abruptly broke away and demanded, "What's the problem?"

Elsa cast an embarrassed glance in Hans's direction and quietly said, "Not here."

Momentarily dumbfounded, Anna sat up and gazed at the prone body a foot away. She frowned but it quickly dissolved when she figured out what Elsa was worried about and she chuckled, wiping a spec of dirt off the other girl's forehead. "Elsa, there's nothing to worry about. He's out like a hibernating bear, completely dead to the world. Right now it's just you and me here, no one else," she assured her. She saw Elsa wasn't convinced and got up with a sigh, going to the disorganized pile of clothes and pulling a handful of clothes into her arms. She dumped those clothes on top of Hans and then resumed the position she'd been in before she moved. "Better? Good. Now shut up," she ordered.

It was during this time Elsa remembered she forgot to tell them what happened to their water supply. She started to speak about it but then dropped it, deciding it was best to tell them later and just enjoy the moment.


	7. Survival of the Fittest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Depictions of cutting

"I'm freakin' thirsty," Anna complained, stumbling along after Elsa on the beach. She dragged her feet and fanned her face with a wide leaf. The hot wind it blew back at her wasn't that comforting, but she heedlessly continued wasting her energy, bending her wrist back and forth. A look of annoyance planted itself on her face as she unhappily watched Elsa ahead of her. She was walking too damn fast. If Anna wasn't so utterly exhausted from the heat she would have shouted for the blonde to slow down but she saved her breath, though she never ceased waving the leaf in front of her.

Elsa didn't check once to see if Anna was with her or not. Her mind was set on one thing and one thing only. Water. She told the other two about their dilemma in the morning. Hans was sickly pale and seemed to grow even more paler when she gave them the bad news. She could tell he was dehydrated, probably worse than her and Anna due to his accident, so she swore when and if they somehow came upon some fresh water she would have Hans drink first.

A rock zoomed past her head to her left and she paused as Anna caught up with her, out of breath. Panting, she asked, "Where exactly are we going? There's nothing but dead planes in this direction."

Elsa was aware of that, and she really wasn't sure why she decided to head in this direction. Maybe she hoped there was something they miraculously missed inside the junked planes that could help them out. She doubted it, considering they practically gutted and tore apart anything remotely usable, but it wouldn't hurt to look around a bit more. Plus she had left the journal they found in the small plane and it was possible she missed something vital that could potentially save them. At first glance it had seemed as if there was nothing of importance in it, but she had only skimmed the pages so it was worth a second look.

She was so focused on her plans she forgot to answer Anna. It didn't matter because the redhead had her attention elsewhere. Anna gazed out at the ocean and imagined she saw a boat floating on the line that separated the sea and sky. Her eyes lost their focus as she stared for too long and she blinked to clear her vision and had to just about run to catch up with Elsa again. Her legs felt rubbery as they carried her along and she felt as if she were going to collapse at any second. A flood of relief surged through her when the small plane came into view up ahead. Although it was a heap of useless metal, it was, for the moment, going to bring them a few moments of rest, which was something Anna was desperate for.

They came to the plane and as soon as they got on board Anna flopped into the cockpit seat and just lay there, looking out the cracked windshield at the blue sky above dotted with white fluffy clouds, like cotton balls. Elsa scoured the plane from head to toe, checking every available nook and cranny for something that might have been left behind. All she found was dust, sand, and old food wrappers. There was nothing of importance left. She ended her search and stopped by the table, the stand that held it up rooted in place by welded steel, and opened the box sitting on top of it to get out the book. She almost had the book in her hands when she decided to take the entire box with them, so she shut the lid and picked the box up. She housed it under her arm and went towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Anna cried out, slouched in the pilot's seat. Her arms hung down the sides of the chair lifelessly.

"I'm going back to the wreckage you found," Elsa said.

"Why? There's nothing there! You know that! And anyway, we just got here. It's hot, I'm sweating up a storm. Let's rest for goodness sake before I melt into nothingness." Anna dropped her head back. She screwed her face up as a dull pain in her head started. Groaning, she moaned, "I don't think I can move another step, Elsa. I feel so weak... My mouth is dry as Hans's brain, I'm getting a headache... Can we just go back, please?" 

"Go back to what, Anna? There’s nothing there that will make you feel any better! But if you want to go back to the cave, then go." Elsa thrust the box at her. "And take this with you." Anna started to protest--- she didn't want to make the journey back all by herself. But without another word Elsa left her and the small plane to once again scavenge around the larger plane wreckage they'd stumbled across. She didn't plan on finding anything new, but she wanted to look again anyway. She had some hope that the storm wasn't all bad luck.

The area of the crash site was no different from the last time she was there. At least not much had changed from what she could see. There was a lot more debris strewn about due to the storm. Another felled tree lay flat in the sand, completely blocking the path they’d gone through to find the cave of skeletons. Trying not to think about all those people that died while striving to stay alive, which they obviously failed to do, her attention wandered to the slab of metal in the sand, the separated wing of the jet. The wing was no longer leaning against a tree, and she realized the tree it had been against was the same one on the ground. The sound of feet kicking up sand alerted her, and at the same time she turned to face her, Anna let go of the box Elsa had forced her to hold and fell into the sand face first with a grunt, her legs giving out on her.

"Are you alright?" Elsa gasped, rushing to her side.

Lifting one finger, Anna muffled into the sand, "Shh. Let me die in peace, please."

"You're not going to die. None of us are going to die. We're all going to get out of here alive." Elsa helped her sit up and noticed how Anna wavered unsteadily. She was sweating profusely and looked almost as pale as Hans. Quickly Elsa had her lie down on her back, fearing she would faint any second. The first thing she thought about was finding something cool to place on Anna’s forehead so she went to gather up some leaves and mud. Although the storm had occurred the other day, there was still an abundance of moisture in the soil. The shade given off by the trees helped keep the wetness from drying up from the heat, and it also kept the mud nice and cool. Elsa had to pass by the wing as she went to fetch what she needed and gave it a passing glance. On her way back to Anna something about the wing made her look closer.

The middle of the wing had a wide, long and crater-sized indent in it. Small debris floated on top of the dent. Elsa thought she was hallucinating, just imagining the objects bob up and down, gently gliding from one end of the gap to the other as hot wind blew, almost as if they were floating on water...

"Oh my gosh," Elsa gasped, dropping the muddy leaves she held in her hands as she discovered that there was in fact water. When she shouted this to Anna, the redhead was up on her own two feet in an instant to see for herself.

"Thank freakin' goodness," Anna exclaimed, dipping her hands into the warm water and cupping some in her hands to drink.

"Wait, Anna! You shouldn't do that! We should boil it first," Elsa told her. "There might be something in there that will get you sick."

It was obvious Anna didn't care about the possibility of there being disease causing organisms in the water; she continued drinking until she was satisfied. She licked the excess water from her lips and beamed. "That was refreshing. I feel better already."

Elsa muttered, "Yeah. And then later on you'll probably be puking your brains out." She scooped water into the canteen and gingerly tasted it herself. It tasted okay as far as she could tell. She filled the canteen up all the way and capped it closed. Once they got back to the cave she would first heat the water up and then let Hans drink. Oh, how happy he will be when he finds out about this, she thought. She made a note to come back later with the crab jar and anything else they could store water in. It was best to collect as much of the water as possible before it all evaporated. Dropping the canteen beside the box that held the journal and photographs, Elsa asked Anna to help her find branches laden with leaves so they could cover the indent to block the sun from drying up the little supply they’d found.

\-------------------------------------------

Hans was asleep when they returned, though he was squirming restlessly, twisting and turning his torso to get in a position that was more relaxing and unable to find one that suited him. He usually slept on his stomach, but since his accident he was forced to remain on his back, and because of the constant movement with his upper body he was always aching when he woke up.

Elsa let him sleep and heated the water by holding the strap and dangling the canteen inches above the licking flames for several minutes. When his eyelids fluttered she moved closer to him so when they opened fully, the first thing Hans saw was her face. He brightened up at the superb news she gave him, and he started shouting happily after Elsa presented the canteen to him. Hans eagerly took it from her and swallowed down almost half of it, being extra careful to not spill any. After he got his fill he made what sounded like a sigh of happiness and drifted off to sleep, his twisted leg sticking out straight in front of him. Elsa tried not to stare at it. She hated looking at it because just by doing so she felt phantom pain in her own legs. 

He's going through unnecessary pain that could have been prevented if he'd listened to my warning, she thought silently with a shake of her head, giving him a pitying glance and then plopping herself in front of the fire to rest a bit before going back to fill up what had at one time been their crab jar. The heat the dancing flames gave off made her perspire and droplets of sweat trickled down her back, tickling her neck and chest as they slid down. Anna sat across from her, her head bent forward. A drop of moisture dripped off the tip of her nose and hit the floor, and Elsa imagined hearing the sound that drop made as it struck the dirt.

"Eh. Stupid fire, man. Can we put it out, please?" Anna begged. She crawled backwards, away from the fire, retreating into a much cooler corner.

"No, Anna. It'll be a pain to have to make a new fire every night and we won't have any light if we put it out. We won't be able to see anything." The cave would be dark as night if they didn't have a fire going, even in the day time. There were too many trees surrounding them, preventing sunlight from washing onto the forest ground.

Elsa waited for further complaints but received none. She relaxed, laying back and shutting her tired eyes, wishing she could snap into unconsciousness as easily as Anna could. It always amazed her how fast Anna could fall asleep. All she had to do was close her eyes and she was out.

Staring at the back of her eyelids, Elsa started thinking about how lucky they were to have found water, a gift; a pool of life preserved for them on an old indented wing. She'd thought the only thing they had on the island was bad luck--- the crash, their discovery of two other crashes, their water muddying up. She even considered the possibility of the island itself being the source of bad luck. It was strange that so many planes had crashed on an island that was probably so small it wasn't even on a map.

Of course, it was nothing but a coincidence. That's all it had to be. This wasn't some sick horror movie where an evil being haunted an island and lured planes and ships to it. She knew better than to believe that.

But nonetheless, the mere thought of it gave her shivers. If the island was haunted by some creature that sucked the life out of all living beings, they had no way of defeating it. None they would know about, anyway. Would they be able to find out a way to kill it? Before it was too late? Maybe that was it. Perhaps there was some kind of monster that inhabited the island, devouring all animal life. It would explain why there were no animals on it.

Okay, stop it, Elsa scolded herself. Maybe the reason there are no animals on this island is because it's way too small, she told herself. Whatever animal did live on it might have died out for one reason or another. Lack of resources was her biggest guest.

Her stomach vibrated, grumbling a complaint. Wistfully she said, "We have water for now. All we need is food." Crossing her fingers, she hoped when she went back to refill the containers she would have more luck on her side and run into a family of crabs. She lingered around the cave a while longer and then Elsa took both the canteen and jar with her and told Anna she was going back to the wing.

“I’m coming too,” Anna said, and started to get up. But Elsa stopped her.

“Stay here with Hans. There's no need for us both to leave now. And please, treat him nicely," Elsa pleaded, pressing her hands together under her chin. From the look Anna was giving her it was obvious being nice to Hans was the last thing on her mind. She shrugged and relented though, promising she would ignore him. Although that wasn't what Elsa was looking for, she accepted it anyway. 

When Elsa was gone Anna drew closer to the fire and just watched the mesmerizing flames for about five minutes. Looking away from the fire, she pulled the axe onto her lap to study it. The one-sided blade was still fairly sharp and clean, though not as pristine as the day they found it. She pressed the tip of her finger against the flat side, running it along the smoothness, and then she touched the razor sharp edge, nicking herself. A drop of blood bubbled from the cut and she sucked it off, sticking her finger into her mouth. Maybe I should become a vampire, she mused, licking her finger clean. Blood actually had a nice taste to it. She didn't think she'd have any problem living off it.

She sucked on the cut until it stopped producing the delicious nectar, but she was in the mood for so much more so Anna bent her knees and stuck the axe handle between them so the blade was sticking straight up and facing toward her. Holding her wrist, she probed with her fingers for a thick vein but gave up when she couldn't find one and touched her wrist to the blade. Slowly she slid her wrist up it, wincing at the sharp pain that followed. Blood oozed from the wound she'd created, sparkling and shining as the light played on it. With her one hand she lowered the axe back down to the floor, her eyes fixed on the cut. She brought it to her lips to taste and that's when she met Hans's alarmed eyes.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, looking from her face, to her wrist, to the axe.

Anna was ready to release a sharp comment but stopped and gritted her teeth together. She scooted herself around so her back was to him and lapped at her bleeding cut. She fully intended to ignore Hans one hundred percent, but as she licked up her own blood she felt his eyes boring into the back of her head. Stop looking at me, she growled in her head. Slightly turning, her body tensed up when she saw he was still paying extremely close attention to her. Straightening her spine, she told herself to continue ignoring him, to block him out. She practiced inhaling and exhaling slowly, trying to relax herself.

But it didn't work. No matter how hard she tried, she could HEAR him looking at her and her breathing quickened, her fists clenched. A tremor of anger overcame her. "What the hell are you looking at?" she screamed, shooting her head around fast to glare at him.

Hans let out a startled cry at her outburst and shrank back. He gnawed on his lip, averting his gaze to his lame leg. He bent his other leg and scratched at his knee, then he pretended to be engrossed in cleaning his nails. Anna's cold eyes were on him the whole time, her teeth bared. She looked ready to tear into him.

Steepling his fingers together, he tentatively asked, "Why do you hate me?" Anna snorted and went back to her cut. "No, I'm serious. You're always unfriendly toward me. The least you could do is tell me why! Did I do or say something that offended you? Or... or is it because you sat on one of my piercings on the plane? By the way, I can't find my piercings anywhere..."

Dimly, the corner of Anna's mouth twitched with a smile as she recalled taking his piercings and throwing them one by one into the ocean and the satisfying plops they made as they broke the surface. She'd seen them lying in a pile by the wall and thought they were hazardous. It would have been a shame if one of them had stepped on one and injured their foot, thus presenting newer problems.

This was done, of course, before Hans had fallen off the tree and busted his leg.

"What are you saying?" she said stiffly. She rose to her feet and stepped toward him. "You think I did something with your stupid piercings? Is that what you're trying to say? Huh?" She kicked his broken leg and his eyes filled instantly with tears of pain and he smothered a scream into his arm. "Why would I want to touch your disgusting piercings? Jackass." Disgusted, Anna strode back and forth from one end of the cave to the other, her hands clasped behind her back.

Hans blinked back the tears that blurred his vision, shooting Anna an unhappy glance, which, thankfully, she didn't see, for if she had seen it there was no telling what other tortures she would do. She was pacing furiously, a scowl hanging from her face. She had one hand wrapped around her wrist, twisting it, smearing a trail of red that went around her wrist like a bracelet.

Crap. She must be losing her mind, Hans thought. Desperately, he searched for Elsa's whereabouts, wondering where she'd gone off to and when she would be back. He was hoping soon because he didn't want to be stuck alone with Anna for a long period of time.

"You want to know why I hate you?" she said suddenly, still pacing. Back and forth and back again. Hans said nothing and waited for what she was going to say. He wasn't sure what to expect. Perhaps his nose was crooked and she was offended by it, or maybe she thought his voice was too trollish sounding. He was pretty sure his nose and voice were fine though. His girlfriend Laurie told him on many occasions that he had a sexy voice and a cute nose even. Surely Anna didn't hate him because of either of them?

Thin lipped, Anna bent down to lift up the axe. Hefting it in her hands she said, "You resemble my bastard father." She grasped the handle part, allowing the blade end to scrape and spark against the rocky floor.

"Your father?"

"Did I stutter?" she snapped nastily. "Yes. My father--- if he can even be called that--- had a gross nose piercing. He had it right here between his nostrils, sort of like how a bull would wear it. Do bulls actually wear those things?" Hans shrugged, unsure himself. "Whatever. The point is he had one, and he also used to style his hair up into retarded looking mohawks like you." She wrinkled her nose, detest written all over her unhappy face. Brusquely she smashed the head of the axe into the floor as a powerful rage took over her. Anna pounded it several times, sending sparks flying, before gnashing it against the stone as if she were trying to dig a hole.

"He made my mother a freakin' drug addict and alcoholic," she seethed. "He forced her to take something she once was against and now... now she's dependent on it. It's what keeps her going every day. Drugs and alcohol. If she doesn't have either one of them she throws tantrums and trashes the house. She's a monster now, and she wasn't always like that!" Anna screamed, emphasizing her words with a clang of the axe. Lowering her voice a notch, she said, "She hated stuff that altered one's judgment. She tried to make my father quit the stuff but it backfired on her and she got sucked into it, and when he died I was stuck taking care of her."

Anna paused and tried but couldn't remember any happy memories she had with her mother. The only happiness she found was when she went to visit her uncle, which was where she was headed before the crash took place and got them stranded. All the plane rides she'd endured were trips to visit the family she wished she could be with, a family she wished she could have been born into. On this trip, what Anna had suspected would be her last trip for a long time, she had every intention of staying with her mother's brother's family. Even if they didn't take her in to live with them, she would have never returned home to her mother. She was tired of taking care of the loony woman.

But she escaped one hellhole only to end up in another. And she knew, without a doubt, none of them would get off the island and return to civilization. She could feel it in her bones.

"What happened to your father?" Hans risked asking.

She stared off into space blankly, lost in her own world for a moment. And then, shaking her head she answered dryly, "He killed himself." She then burst into laughter. "Blew his brains out," she chortled. "But that's not the best part!" Anna smirked. "Wanna know the clincher? I'm sure you do. And hell, why not tell you since I already gushed to you personal info?" She swung the axe back and forth, the blade swinging toward Hans before falling back to the other direction, then coming back to him. The axe, when it came close, was literally inches away from his body. He eyed it nervously and swallowed the saliva that collected in his mouth, lodging in his throat.

Anna didn't seem to be paying any attention or even realize what she was doing. She absently swung it like a golf club and said, oddly pleasantly, "My dear father had me on his lap when he did it. He was high or drunk, but really, what's the difference? And anyway, he had a gun out, showing it to his buddies. It was loaded, the safety was off. He had an itch on the side of his head and instead of scratching it with his fingernails he used the muzzle of the gun." She shrugged. "His finger slipped on the trigger and BLAM. It's raining brains. Hallelujah." She cracked up.

Hans paled and uncomfortably watched her laughing her head off, and once again he realized how crazy she was.

Elsa, you better come back fast, he thought. Out loud, to Anna he said, "I get your life hasn't been all that great. But mutilating yourself won't make things better."

"I'm doing this," she said grumpily, thrusting her cut wrist in his face, "because I'm hungry. Not because of my stupid past experiences, alright? I need something tasty. I want... I yearn for the taste of meat..." Anna licked her lips and her mouth salivated as she imagined eating a nice juicy steak. With a grunt, she shouldered the axe and spun around abruptly, heading outside the cave.

"Where are you going with that?" Hans called out.

Anna's shoulders lifted and fell with a heavy sigh. "Hunting. Jeez, you're such a pest. Why must you always know every little thing?"

"But... you know there's nothing out there," he reminded her feebly.

Anna slowly turned her head. She cocked it to the side, looking him over with sudden interest. "You know, Hans, you're absolutely right." She strolled back in, her two eyes locked intensely on him. Hans didn't like the look and his mouth suddenly became very dry. 

Anna very lightly tapped his leg with the tip of her toe and smiled widely.

"Why don't I rid you of that lame leg?"


	8. Salvation On the Horizon

Several hours later, Elsa woke up with a start on the beach and, gasping, bolted up into a sitting position. Slightly confused and not remembering where she was, she panicked and scrambled to her feet, only to end up sprawled in the sand again after she stepped and slipped on the water-filled jar which had fallen onto its side. With a cry she landed on her back, the sand cushioning her fall, and she stayed there for ten seconds before rolling onto her stomach. She lifted herself up with her arms and sat back on her legs, taking in her surroundings. The overturned jar she'd tripped over sloshed with water and reminded her where she was and why she was out there.

Elsa had gone out to get more water, and once she'd collected enough to fill a jar’s worth she decided to take a break and laid down in the heated sand, intending only to rest a bit before returning to the cave. She underestimated how tired her body was, and without meaning to she'd fallen asleep. How long she'd been out there she didn't know. The sun had moved quite a bit though so she guessed at least a few hours had gone by.

"I better head back." Standing up, Elsa stretched her arms above her head and winced at the cracking her bones made, the sound grossing her out immensely. As she stretched she hoped Anna wasn't being too hard on Hans. He didn't deserve to be treated like garbage. He seemed like a nice guy. Annoying as hell, but nice. She couldn't understand why---

She froze with her arms extended up in the air in mid stretch as her ears picked up a strange noise.

_What was that sound?_ she wondered, hearing a buzzing noise that was coming from somewhere in the distance. She dropped her arms to her sides and squinted to see if she could spot anything, staring out toward the sea. The sun made it hard for her so she used her hands to block the light out. She didn't see anything.

_Maybe I'm hearing things, hallucinating._ It was a frightening thought, losing her sense of reality.

Elsa waited and watched, listening with open ears. The sound did not fade away or disappear. The volume increased, and then she spotted a dot in the sky above the swirling white clouds. _A UFO?_ was her skeptical thought. Yes, that's exactly what it was. Not an alien space craft, but an unidentified flying object, because so far Elsa was unable to tell what it was.

But as it came closer and the buzz grew into a rumble, Elsa was flooded with shock, excitement, relief, and a hint of dread. She saw a plane. The question was, did the plane actually exist? Was it actually flying toward the island? Or was the plane merely an image her mind was projecting? But was it even possible to hallucinate sound as well? So many frustrating questions.

And she was about to find out if it really was a mirage or not.

\---------------------------------

Panting, Elsa dashed through the woods as fast as her legs could carry her with the canteen strapped around her neck, slapping her back rhythmically, and her arms protectively around the jar. She was in such a rush, but she had to tell Anna and Hans what she had seen.

A plane. The UFO she'd seen coming toward her had in fact been a real live plane. She'd watched in awe as it flew over her and circled around the island several times before heading back the way it had come. The whole time Elsa waved her arms and jumped up and down, shouting. And though she doubted the pilot heard what she screamed, there was no doubt he saw her waving madly. Which meant, finally, rescue would be coming to take them home! Finally the three survivors would have a warm bed to sleep in, a real house to live in, and an endless supply of food to eat and water to drink. No more dirty caves, no more scavenging for food that wasn't there, and no more drinking water from the wings of planes.

_I'll get to see Olaf again,_ Elsa thought excitedly. She wished that with a blink of her eyes she could be by her little brother's side at that very moment. But all she had to do was wait a bit longer, just a tiny bit more. Soon she'll be off the island and holding her brother in her arms once more. Now that she knew rescue was on its way, waiting didn't seem so bad anymore.

The first thing Elsa planned to do when she saw her brother again was hug and kiss him like she'd never done before. She'd engulf her brother in her arms and cry a river--- she was ready to burst already just at the thought--- and she'd tell him how much she loved him and missed him. And if her brother ever asked her to play with him, no matter what it was he wanted to play, Elsa would stop whatever it was she was doing and play with him. And when it was time for bed Elsa would read him bedtime stories. And if Olaf didn't want to hear any of the books he had in his collection, then Elsa would make up her own story, adding silly parts that would make her brother laugh and giggle. Tears of happiness clouded her vision and she had to pause in her running to brush her eyes clean so she could see where she was going.

Nearing the cave, Elsa picked up speed, careful not to trip and smash the jar, though now that she thought about it they wouldn't be needing it for much longer, if at all. Still, she held on to it just in case and flew through the entrance. Beaming widely and exclaiming with a gasp, "Guys, you won't believe what I just---"

The words she was going to say were cut off short and the jar she held slipped in her grip. Elsa's jaw dropped at the sight she saw in front of her.

A good part of the drab floor was splattered with some kind of dark substance. From where she stood it was hard to tell what exactly the substance was, but she was able to identify it as blood when she saw the red stuff coating Anna's hands and clothes. A portion of what looked like cooked meat sat in the girl’s lap and she was enthusiastically eating it, picking and plucking chunks off and greedily slipping them into her hungry mouth.

Elsa bounced the jar in her arms so it was nestled safely in the crook of her arm once again and quietly assessed what she was seeing, not sure of what to think.

"What took you so long?" Anna asked casually, glancing up at her curiously while popping a sliver of meat into her mouth.

"I-I..." Dumbfounded, Elsa walked in slowly. To her left over by the wall lay Hans, sleeping soundly, shirts stretched out over his body used as blankets, covering him from neck to feet. Just looking at him covered up like that made her all hot. She figured when he woke up he would be thirsty again. She focused on Anna and the food she had in her lap. "Where did you... what is that?"

"It's food. So shut up and come eat," Anna said, patting the empty space beside her.

"But... where did it come from? And what IS it?" Elsa asked, wrinkling her eyebrows.

Anna lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Why do you have to ask questions for? Just be happy I found us something, alright? We won't have to starve for a while," she mumbled. She reached for a wrapped t-shirt and pushed it to the spot where she wanted Elsa to sit. "I cooked some for you too. It might be a little cold so you'll probably have to cook it some more. It tastes better hot."

Nodding, Elsa asked how Hans was doing. With a glint of amusement shimmering in her eyes, Anna responded smugly, "He's been nice and quiet."

"Oh." Elsa remained fixed in place, some unknown force rooting her feet to the ground. The room suddenly filled with a deafening silence and she felt her pulse thumping in her throat as a wave of dread crept up her spine. When she left them, Hans hadn't been covered up heavily the way he was now. In fact, there was no logical reason for him to be bundled up so heavily considering it was way too hot to be blanketed with so much clothes as he was. She also noted he wasn't in the same spot he was before, and she was quite certain the very spot he had occupied previously was the same area that was now drenched in blood. A lot of blood.

Why was he moved? And where had all the blood come from? And why did Anna seem so relaxed and unbothered by everything? 

Painstakingly slow, she half turned in Hans's direction and studied him from afar. She told herself he was sound asleep and fine, that the blood that dirtied the ground was not his own, that it belonged to whatever mysterious animal Anna might have caught. She assured herself that Anna would never do anything that would seriously hurt him. Yes, Anna called him names and belittled him a lot but she generally kept her distance from him.

So why did she have such a bad feeling?

The jar was becoming very heavy to her and the canteen strap around her neck seemed to be constricting and choking the air from her lungs. Elsa inched closer to where Hans lay and Anna quietly said, "I wouldn't go any further."

But Elsa didn't listen. It was almost as if she didn’t hear the redhead’s warning.

_Hans is asleep_ , Elsa thought confidently, inching closer to his position, her shoes scraping the floor as she dragged herself closer and closer at an extremely slow rate, nervousness making her jittery and wary. _He was always a heavy sleeper_ , she reminded herself. He could sleep through a volcano eruption. 

He lay on his back by the wall, silent and unmoving, one arm sprawled out at his side, the only other visible part of him besides his head not obscured from view. One of Hans's eyelids was cracked open slightly, making it look as if he were awake. Shadows from the flames played across his body, and at one point Elsa thought his finger twitched. It didn't take her long to figure out the shadows were tricking her and she almost thought she heard them mocking her, laughing at her. She vigorously shook her head to clear it.

She repeatedly told herself he was sleeping and that was all. He wasn't dead, he wasn't a corpse. Everything was fine. Hans would wake up and he'd be the same as usual--- in pain from his broken leg and a pain in the ass, but okay nonetheless. There was nothing to worry about. They were alive and well--- or as well as one could be stranded on an island for as long as they had been--- and they'd all leave the island with all body parts intact. Rescue was coming, so no one could die now, not when freedom was so close.

Swallowing hard, she pinched a shirt spread out over his limbs between her two fingers and hesitated. Where Hans's broken leg should have been the clothes lay flat, as if there was nothing underneath it at all, which freaked Elsa out. She didn't want to lift the cloth away to see what lay beneath--- or rather what didn't lay beneath. But she knew she didn't have a choice. Because she had to be sure.

Anna vigilantly eyed her. She released a sigh and set her dinner off to the side, rising to her knees, ready to spring into action if necessary. Warily she saw Elsa hesitate and she silently told the other girl not to lift it. And then Elsa picked one end of a shirt up, one that was covering the area the leg would normally connect to the hip bone. And, sighing once more, Anna waited for the inevitable.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Glass shattered and water splashed everywhere as the jar Elsa had clasped in her arms disintegrated into tiny shards as it bounced and crashed against the solid floor at her feet. She stumbled back, and with her hands free she covered her eyes as if that could block out the ghastly sight she'd just seen. Even with her eyes closed so tightly they hurt she had the image burned inside her head--- an image of Hans with one leg missing from the top of the thigh down. Gone. Severed off. Jagged edges of the skin, what remained of the bone, and a whole mess of blood was the only thing left of it. 

And Elsa screamed. She screamed and ran without thinking. Out of the cave at full speed she sprinted. Running blindly. Blood pumping rapidly through her veins as she raced through the dense forest. Anna shouted for her to stop and her feet pounded the floor as she chased her. And all Elsa could think was, _She killed Hans. She killed him._

_And she's going to kill me too._

Hands grabbed her and Elsa jerked away, fighting them off. "Don't touch me!" she screamed, chills crawling across her skin at the other girl's touch. She kicked back with her legs, flailed her arms, spinning them like a windmill to keep Anna at bay. 

"Elsa, stop! Calm down! Where are you going?" Anna caught her and spun her around, gripping her elbow, keeping her in place.

"Let go of me. LET GO!"

"Hey! Stop fighting me." Anna dodged Elsa's flying fists and cried, "What's your problem?"

One fist connected hard, smashing full force into her nose, knocking her back and releasing the firm grip she had on Elsa. Anna, stunned, staggered several feet back and gingerly touched her sore nose, wincing from the immediate pain she felt. Elsa clenched her fist, her knuckles red where they collided into Anna, her eyes on fire.

"You have the audacity to ask me what my problem is," Elsa seethed, her voice trembling with rage, "when Hans is lying dead back there." She jabbed her finger back at the cave. "DEAD. He's dead, Anna!" she exclaimed hotly. "He's dead because you killed him! You KILLED him and then you ATE him for crying out loud!"

Carefully rubbing her nose, Anna pleaded, "Let me explain so you'll understa---"

"Explain?!"

"Yes! Just...listen to me," Anna hushed. She came forward and Elsa flung herself back a step, bumping into a tree, placing even more distance between them. So Anna stopped, holding up her hands. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. Jeez. Look, I know you're troubled about... what happened. But really, I did it solely for survival, Elsa. You should understand that because, you know, in the wild the weak, old, and injured die. If a water buffalo were too old to travel the herd would eventually move on without it. They just abandon them like that and leave them to defend for themselves against predators. The outcome usually isn't good. But it's natural."

Elsa knew that. When she was younger she used to spend her time watching Animal Planet on TV. She loved watching the animals, and when a part came on that showed a poor animal getting attacked and killed by a lion or alligator she was always filled with sadness. And she always cried too. She remembered her father telling her that it was the way the food chain worked. In order for the lions to thrive they needed to eat, and in order to eat they had to hunt and kill another animal. "You're absolutely right..." she agreed. "In the WILD that happens. But we are not wild, Anna. We're human beings!"

Solemnly Anna bobbed her head. "That's exactly my point. We are humans. We're just as wild as any wild animal that exists." She licked her lips and tasted blood. She rubbed underneath her nostrils and came away with fresh blood at the back of her hand. "Hans is better off dead," she said huskily. "He was a useless piece of crap. He did nothing to help us. All he did was get himself into trouble."

It was true about him getting into trouble, Elsa couldn't deny that. "He didn't deserve to die." She imagined the suffering Hans endured as the axe sank into his leg, more than once. She heard his anguished cries in her head and wondered what his last thoughts were before he died. And he probably hadn't died right away either. The probable cause of death was blood loss. He would have still been alive once his leg was removed, she assumed, but he would have been bleeding profusely. And there had been a lot of blood and nothing to block the flow of it. "He could still be alive if you'd made a tourniquet and stopped him from bleeding to death."

"Oh, sure!" Anna flung her hands up in the air and let them fall, slapping her thighs. "Right. Like I would have thought of that. You're the doctor here," she said smartly. "I couldn't even bandage my own injury that first day. You remember that don't you? You made me help myself while you gave Hans all your care and attention. You were even there for him when he broke his leg, making sure he was comfortable... Oh, but when I felt like fainting a while ago you just told me to walk back to the cave by myself. You didn‘t even care until I dropped into the sand…" A realization came to her suddenly and her expression darkened. "Hold on. I think I get it now."

Elsa, not understanding, inquired, "What?"

"It all makes sense!" Anna stated brusquely, glowering at her. "You had a crush on him, didn't you?" she accused.

"What?!" Elsa's jaw dropped in astonishment.

A chorus of crickets chirped right on cue, keeping the awkward silence that would have come at that very moment at bay. The crickets alerted Elsa and she realized the sun was setting. It was getting dark fast. But neither of the girls moved to head back to the cave, and Elsa didn't plan on setting foot inside that place again, not after what she'd seen.

Poor Hans...

The two girls stood separated from each other, one a bloody mess, hands hanging loosely by her side, unhappiness scrawled upon her dirty face. The other girl across from her was free of blood except for where the redhad had grabbed at her and had her hands balled into fists. 

Anna's words rang and echoed inside Elsa's head.

Her? With a crush on Hans? Flabbergasted, she held her head in her hands and felt like bursting into a fit of giggles. For some strange reason the thought of her being with Hans was just too hilarious, too comical to even consider. The seriousness of the situation kept her from so much as chuckling, however. She kept her laughs under control and sobered up quickly, reliving what she'd seen back at the cave not too long ago, the pictures of what remained of Hans vivid and clear in her mind. She shuddered and rubbed her arms as if she were cold. "I never did have a crush on Hans. I liked him, yes, but in a sisterly way; as a friend. Nothing more."

Anna snorted. "So you say." She scrubbed her wrist to wipe off the blood she had smeared around it but her attempts were futile. Licking her finger, she rubbed her saliva onto the blood, and it helped a little. Still, there was too much of it and if she used her own saliva to clean it off it would take forever. Before going to bed she would need to bathe in the ocean and scrub herself clean.

"Explain to me this: if I liked him then why was I with you most of the time?" Elsa shot back heatedly. Her cheeks turned deep red then, and she turned away and violently crushed a growing weed under her tattered shoe, worn out because of all the walking she'd done on the island. 

_What was the use in arguing about this now?_ she thought, lifting her foot. The weed she stomped on flinched and jerked up a bit on its now bent stem and tilted to one side. It bobbed on its broken spine and drooped precariously low, no longer standing straight, appearing to be ready to tip completely.

"Oh that's not hard to figure out," Anna answered snidely, responding to her question. "It's not hard to use people, you know. That's all you were doing when 'you were with me,' as you say. You were using me. Why else would you be with me if you don't love me?"

"I..." Deflated, Elsa sank to a sitting position, pressing her back against the roughness of a trunk behind her. "I'm telling you the truth, and whether you believe me or not doesn't matter..." The question now was not whether she loved Anna or not. At one point it was, and she was never very sure whether the way she felt toward Anna was love or not. Maybe the reason she was so unsure was because it was all new to her still, being in love with another girl. After much thought she concluded that she did indeed love Anna in some weird, twisted way--- but she came to that conclusion way too late.

The new question she needed to figure out: was it possible to love someone that murdered another cold-heartedly?

She decided that, yes, there were some people out there who may love or have loved a murderer. And she also decided that she wasn't one of those people. There was no way she could love Anna after what she'd seen. It just wasn't possible. She couldn't even bear her touching her now. And just knowing that part of Hans was digesting in her stomach made her want to heave.

Elsa yanked the crippled weed her foot had smashed out of the ground and twisted it in her hands, winding it around her fingers until its stem came apart and she had two halves in her hands. She let the broken weed fall. "I just... I don't... Why, Anna? Why did you have to kill him... now? Why couldn't you have waited a bit longer? Just a tiny bit longer," she said weakly, throwing her hands up in defeat. "If you'd waited a couple more days we all could have left this place..."

"Left?" That got Anna's attention. "And how exactly could that happen? Did you go ahead and build that raft you were talking about?"

Sadly shaking her head and wishing she had gone ahead and at least tried her raft plan, Elsa told Anna all about the plane. At first Anna laughed at her words, thinking it was a joke. Then she was confused and her confusion slipped away, replaced by incredulity. Despite her blood covered face, Elsa noticed how pale Anna became. She coughed and then was silent as she mulled this shocking news over and then tentatively said, "We're leaving the island then? Someone's coming to get us out of here?"

"Yes. I know the pilot flying had to have seen me on the beach. He was flying pretty low, like he was searching for something so he couldn't have missed me. There wasn't much he could do in such a small plane though; there was no way he could have helped us by himself. So he went off to get help and I imagine the rescue team will be here in the morning when they'll be able to see in the day time."

Speechless, Anna blinked, pulling on the skin of her neck right below her chin absently. "I see..." she whispered, her forehead creasing with worry lines.

The way she was acting made Elsa believe she didn't want to leave the island. That, of course, was farfetched. Why would anyone want to stay here when the island offered them nothing to live off of? There was nothing there for them. But there was something bothering Anna that had her worried and made her fidgety. Before Elsa could ask anything, Anna swore explosively. Sluggishly she started toward the cave. Then she stopped and half turned back, chewing on her thumb nail, glancing shortly at Elsa before she continued plodding back to the cave, leaving Elsa by herself to wonder.


	9. Sleeping With the Fishes

Night unfolded quickly, overpowering the little light that remained with ease. Soon the moon rose overhead, an enormous glowing sphere in the sky. Elsa was able to see it well with no trees hindering her view as she sat on the beach tucked between a cluster of cold boulders.

She was all alone, and that was fine with her.

She'd come to that spot right after Anna left her and hunkered down. For hours she sat with her legs bent, arms hugging them close to her until she became so stiff that she had to stretch, and then she resumed the same position. Sleep threatened to take over but she didn't dare let herself slip and give in. She wanted to remain vigilant and aware of what was going on around her, so to take her mind off sleep she tried to distract herself by thinking of other things.

Her mind was a complete blank. She felt frozen, which made thinking hard for her. It was windy, and though the rocks helped block the chilly wind from blowing her hair around her face and into her mouth, it didn't keep the cold away. The rocks were not that good of a shelter, but it was better than nothing. She'd rather have rocks protecting her from the wind than haunted caves filled with dead people...

_Don't think about that_ , Elsa chided herself, suppressing a shiver and drawing her mind away from the thought of caves and anything that could spark the waterworks behind her eyes. If she so much as thought about what went on in the cave while she had been gone she wouldn't be able to function right. After all, wasn't it her fault that Hans was dead? If she'd returned a lot earlier than she had she could have prevented the entire thing from happening.

That’s what she wanted to think, but could she really have stopped it? Or would it have happened regardless? Or... would _she_ be dead now instead of Hans? She had no answers for any of her questions. Not even the most important question that was stuck in her brain: _What am I going to do now?_

The only thing she could think to do was stay in one place and wait for morning to return so the rescue team she expected to come would find her and take her away from there, take her back home where she'd once again see her beloved brother. All she desperately wanted was to return to her dear Olaf again.

Something told Elsa she'd never get that chance.

"Life is complicated and fragile," she concluded wearily, lowering her head to rest on her arms positioned on top of her knees, tucked close to her chest.

After a few minutes of listening to the waves crash onto the beach, Elsa sighed heavily and unfurled her arms, moving into a horizontal position and watching the beautiful stars twinkle above in the dark night sky...

And without meaning to, she fell asleep.

\----------------------------

Tiny plops of water rained down on her from above, causing her to scrunch her face in annoyance. Brushing her arm against her face to get rid of the drops that stuck to her, mumbling gibberish, Elsa turned on her side and shivered as the ice-like mattress beneath her chilled her bare skin, making her restless and irritable.

Wanting to be enveloped in warmth, eyes still closed shut, she felt around for her blanket to cover herself with. Her hand blindly searched the area around her and came up empty, touching nothing but air and the cold thing she lay upon.

_It's a rock_ , she recalled hazily, not a mattress. _I'm not in a bed._

Frowning, wishing she were in a plushy bed like in the pleasant dream she just woke up from, Elsa turned again before finally retracting her eyelids. What she saw bewildered her. She found herself looking up at a lightening sky, the sort of sky one would see when morning was approaching. The stars were fading and the moon was no longer in sight. Peeking just over the ocean line, the sun was beginning to rise.

_That’s impossible_ , she thought. _How could it be morning already?_ The sun had gone down not too long ago! Unless...

She shot up quickly, suddenly realizing that she'd stupidly fallen asleep. She moved too fast and her momentum carried her forward, causing her to tumble off the rocks and into the sand head first, landing awkwardly as her ankle got caught between a wide crack between the boulders. Immediate pain shot up her leg as her ankle twisted before it popped loose from the hole.

Seconds crawled by and Elsa didn't move from where she'd fallen, at least not right away. Only when she felt more droplets fall on her did she push herself up so she was on her hands and knees. That was when she noticed the pair of feet in front of her. And just as she raised her head to see who the feet belonged to— though it wasn't hard to figure out since there was only one other living person on the island with her — a downpour splashed onto her head, soaking her.

Shaking off the water, Elsa sputtered out snappishly as Anna dropped the empty canteen in the sand, "Why did you do that?"

"Elsa... I've been up all night thinking..." Anna said, ignoring her question. She pawed the sand with her foot and stepped on the canteen, pushing it deeper into the sand until it wouldn't go down any further.

"What?" Elsa smacked the sand off of her and limped to her feet. She was careful not to put too much pressure on her right foot.

Anna's eyes were dull and red-rimmed, and it was obvious she hadn't gotten any sleep. "Like... we're about to leave this place in a few hours... probably." She gestured towards the rapidly rising sun and then limply let her arm fall back to her side. "That means we'll return to civilization... we'll go back to living with other people... and following laws." She put much emphasis on the last word and sharply cast an uneasy glance Elsa's way.

Elsa didn't quite understand what Anna was getting at. "That‘s the plan… Yeah."

"Yeah," repeated Anna. "You know how when you don't follow laws you get arrested and sent to jail?" Elsa nodded slowly. Anna forced a tight smile. "When someone murders someone else, regardless of where the murder took place, the murderer usually goes to jail. Isn't that right? And sometimes, depending on how bad the killing actually was, the murderer just might get the death penalty."

Finally Elsa understood what Anna was getting at. _She's afraid of being sent to jail. She's afraid I'm going to tell on her._ "You want me to act as if it never happened, am I right? You want me to lie about what you did to Hans."

"Technically it's not lying if you don't mention it..." Anna hinted.

"They’ll search the island, Anna. They’ll find Hans and they'll ask a lot of questions!" Elsa said, her voice rising. "Look, you did it and now you have to face what you've done. That’s how the world works! Yes, you'll probably go to jail but I doubt you'll be put to death. And they might go easy on you if you plead insanity... I mean, it wouldn't be a complete li—"

"Excuse me?" Anna said enraged, the words shooting out of her mouth like angry bullets, killing the rest of what Elsa was planning to say. "Are you saying I'm mentally unstable?"

Elsa's mouth moved but no sound came out.

It didn't matter. Anna was ticked and wouldn't give her room to speak. "I just wanted to survive and I came up with the only possible solution I could think of. It was either I found something to eat or I dropped dead, and the latter wasn't an option for me. I wouldn't have done it if I knew there was a chance we'd get out of here. How was I supposed to know some stupid plane was going to decide to fly on by? We're not even sure we're going to be rescued!" she retorted. "You see one plane and immediately think we're out of here! We'll we're not in the clear yet, sister! We're still here on this cursed, bloody island. And if we do so happen to leave this place, I will not"— she jabbed a finger into her own chest— "I will NOT spend the rest of my life stuck in a fucking jail cell or mental institution!"

Panting heavily, Anna wiped perspire dampened hair away from the front of her face and stated oddly calmly, "I talked to Hans about this.”

Elsa stiffened. "You… what? Talked… to Hans?" She inched a step backwards, disbelief written all over her paling face.

"Yep.” Anna bobbed her head expeditiously. “We talked it over, but he wasn't really much help. I think he was on your side, actually, but what else is new? So after a while I just ignored him and decided that something had to be done. Because I knew you were going to tell. I bet even if I tried to talk you out of it and had you promise me you wouldn't say a word of it you'd still tell. That's just the kind of person you are: a goody-two shoes," she said loathingly.

Depression descended down on Anna and she slumped her shoulders. "It's a pity, really. I had such high hopes for the two of us. I thought once we were out of here we could really form a great relationship, you know? I envisioned us building a life together," she sadly revealed. "And I thought that I'd finally get to be happy. Really happy." She sighed and shrugged helplessly. "Now that doesn't seem likely."

Anna swiveled her head from side to side as if searching for something and bent down to pick up an object that was half buried in the sand. At first it appeared to be nothing more than a long stick, but as she lifted it up Elsa caught sight of the steel blade specked with dried blood at one end. The sight of it instantly froze her in place and if she had a full bladder she would have dribbled in her pants.

Anna effortlessly held the axe at her side and leaned it against her leg to rub her hands together before she gripped the handle again. "It saddens me to say this, but there's really no other way. Elsa... I'm going to have to kill you."

"Kill me?" squeaked Elsa, cringing at the image that developed in her mind of the axe plunging into a part of her body, slicing through her skin and bones as if they were nothing but flimsy, brittle paper. "Ha ha, you're so funny," she said in a faked lighthearted tone, trying to play it off, badly wanting to believe that Anna was pulling a very sick, cruel joke on her. Surely she wasn't serious about killing her? She wasn't THAT crazy…

Was she…?

The resigned but determined expression the redhead wore was answer enough.

Anna was not fooling around.

"I cannot risk you turning me in. I won't spend the rest of my life locked behind bars!" Anna declared vehemently. Then in a disturbingly tender tone she said, "Please don't fight me or try to run, Elsa. Let's just... get this over with. I promise I won’t let you suffer like Hans. You don’t deserve that. You may feel some pain, for it'll take at least two well-placed chops on your neck before it snaps and separates. But look on the bright side, once it's done you won't remember feeling anything at all."

Anna advanced towards her and Elsa retreated away from her, maintaining the distance between them. The evasive move didn't make Anna happy and she clinched her jaw, warning sharply, "Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be, Elsa. Stay still."

Elsa's eyes darted wildly in every direction. Anna once again took a step towards her and she backed up even more. Her heel bumped against a solid object as she continued to back away— the boulder she'd slept on— and she stumbled and fell back onto it, her legs flying up into the air, delivering an unintentional kick that connected solidly with Anna's jaw, smashing her teeth together.

The insane girl was just about to swing the axe vertically down on Elsa, aiming it in no particular spot, when her feet struck her. The blow made Anna release the handle, her hands flying up to grasp her jaw, and the axe dropped, the blade striking the boulder with a metallic clang, sending sparks flying.

The blade just barely missed Elsa's shoulder.

The axe bounced off to the left side and settled quietly into the sand, and Elsa unthinkingly threw herself in the opposite direction, rolling off the rock and into the sand before getting to her shaky feet and running like hell— or trying to. Her sprained ankle gave out on her and she collapsed but she continued moving, scurrying forward on her hands and knees before lurching to her feet once again.

Behind her, Anna swore, furious about her slipping out of her grasp. She snatched the axe up and shoved her dirty, scraggly copper hair behind her ears and charged after the fleeing girl.

Elsa forced herself to run on her hurt ankle, slipping and stumbling across the sandy ground, doing her best to block out the pain that accompanied each footstep she made with her right foot. Each step she took made her want to just quit and stop to ease the pain, however, it was a life or death situation. She had to deal with her ankle or else she would become confetti, chopped to bits and pieces.

To her right, the sun continued its ascent, flying above the horizon line and shedding light on the beach, the beams given off sending shards of light across the sea and onto the shore, making the sand almost golden. The view looked absolutely breathtaking, like something she'd see only in movies or magazine photos. Never once had she been up early enough to see the sun rise since being on the island. It was too bad she was unable to properly enjoy the sight.

Limping at a fast pace —and although she wasn't running as fast as she would have liked, she was moving, and that was what mattered— she chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw the other girl pursuing her with the axe in hand. She received some comfort because the axe would surely slow her down due to its weight, giving Elsa a slight advantage. Not much of one since her injury was making her awfully slow, but it helped somewhat.

_Where am I going to go?_ Elsa frantically thought as she hustled her way down the beach, her feet kicking up sand behind her as she went. No matter where she went, Anna would eventually catch her. If she ducked into the forest she might be able to lose her, but she refrained from doing so. The tree roots and weeds that would undoubtedly be in her path would hamper her progress, and she didn‘t want to get tangled in another vine and end up a sitting duck.

Elsa snuck a second furtive look at her pursuer and felt an electric jolt of fear shoot up her spine when she realized Anna was gaining on her. It wouldn't be long before she'd be able to take a good swing and implant the blade into her side.

She couldn't let that happen!

Thinking quickly, Elsa veered off to the right, limping towards the salt water, plunging into it fully clothed. What exactly was she doing, jumping into the ocean when she was being chased by an axe murderer? It seemed like a crazy thing to do but it was the only idea Elsa could come up with at the moment. If she swam out far enough, and if Anna followed her, it would be impossible for her to use the axe. She couldn‘t possibly swim and keep possession of the axe at the same time, and swinging it while her body was partially under water would slow the momentum and make the axe virtually useless and easy to dodge. For the moment, the water was her only hope.

The problem was Elsa was not a very good swimmer.

This was evident as she doggy paddled sloppily away from shore, splashing noisily and making very little progress. She knew how ridiculous she looked swimming the way she was, and at a snail's pace too, but as embarrassing as it was, she was too afraid to try anything else for fear of drowning. Ever since the time she drowned in an above ground pool at a family friend's house when she was eight-years-old, Elsa became deathly afraid of deep pools of water. For the longest time she refused to take baths, choosing the shower instead, and she would stay far away from the ocean if her family went to the beach.

It was years later now and she was older and a little less afraid of large bodies of water, though her fear of drowning was still strong. She was almost certain that if she leaned too far forward trying to swim more efficiently her face would fall into the water and she'd panic and take a lot of it into her mouth, breathing it in, sucking it into her lungs.

A small wave of water created by her so-called swimming leapt into her mouth. Choking and spitting the salty fluid out, it dawned on her that jumping into the ocean was probably not such a good idea after all. If Anna chose to come after her right then she'd catch her in a heartbeat, and that's if she let go of the axe. At least on land she would have a good chance of running away— and tripping and losing her limbs painfully, one by one once Anna caught up with her. Truth was, if she had a choice between dying from drowning or dying by being chopped into pieces, Elsa would choose drowning. There'd be pain either way, but at least she wouldn't be hacked into bloody pieces while she was still alive. Drowning seemed to be the more peaceful option.

Decision made, Elsa paddled onward. It was too late to change her mind and turn back, anyway. Anna was waiting for her back on land and she'd never get out and away in time.

Anna stopped where the water reached the shore and shouted for her to come back. "Don't make me chase after you!" she hollered shrilly. She entered the water, allowing it to reach up to her ankles, lapping at her skin and the worn bottoms of the jeans she wore, and she stared at Elsa as she swam farther out in an attempt to escape. Her gaze falling to the axe in her hand, Anna took a moment to think about what she was going to do next. If she decided to go after Elsa she would have to ditch the axe—or she could wait till Elsa swam back to shore.

_How long could she stay out there?_ Anna wondered. She noticed Elsa had stopped swimming, her body bobbing in place from the waves that lightly pushed into her. Apparently she had gone out as far as the sand beneath her was reachable. Which meant she could be out there for hours...

_Too long_ , Anna decided. "That water will be your grave," she said darkly, hurling the axe aside and diving into the salty water. No more wasting time. She had to take action now. There was no telling how much time they had left before rescue arrived— if it even was coming. She had to get rid of Elsa before they did or else there would be problems she didn't want to think about.

Unlike Elsa, Anna was an excellent swimmer. She learned how to swim at a very young age after being thrown numerous times into a smelly old pond in her backyard by her mother when she was in one of her drunken fits. Gradually, as the years went by her swimming skill increased greatly as she practiced often at a friend's house. She was speedy and had great stamina and could swim for a long time without tiring. She plowed through the water like a torpedo, her powerful arms slicing rhythmically into the water as she sped straight for Elsa, who immediately panicked as she saw the girl approaching, lost her footing on the last inch of floor she could stand on, and went under the surface for a split second before resurfacing with a big splash.

Elsa’s frantic paddling splashed water into her face, eyes and mouth, causing her to flounder and flail about as she coughed, gasped, and sputtered while at the same time trying to stay afloat, which wasn't an easy task for her.

There was much commotion as she tried hard to stay above the water, and several times her head became totally submerged. Each time she went under her panic grew, and she knew if she didn't get a hold of herself, if she didn't get herself under control, things were going to get even worse. So Elsa stopped struggling and kept herself above water by kicking her legs underneath her and moving her arms outward and then back. Spitting out gobs of water, Elsa scanned her surroundings for Anna.

And saw no sign of her.

A stab of fear exploded up her spine and, gasping like a fish, she looked around wildly for her. Where had she gone? She wasn't back on the beach calling out to her, nor did she appear to be in the water. Elsa’s eyes drifted downward. The water was clear enough to see the sand at the bottom so if Anna had swam under she would have been able spot her.

So where WAS she?

And then Elsa sensed too late the presence behind her, the feeling of having someone standing uncomfortably close. Her fear of drowning had been so strong that while she was trying to keep above the water, she totally let Anna slip her mind, forgetting for the moment that she was being hunted and focusing solely on her efforts to remain above the surface. If she had paid a bit more attention, she would have noticed Anna dive under and resurface behind her.

She was slow to react, for by the time she ordered her legs to bring her forward to distance herself from Anna, and before she could ready herself to fight her off, two strong hands erupted out of the water behind her with an explosive splash and latched onto her shoulders with a death grip that hurt, the fingers biting into her clothing and flesh. Flinching from the miniscule pain she received from this grip, Elsa tensed her body. Momentarily she felt Anna's warm breath against the side of her neck, and for a second she thought the girl was going to kiss her there.

Anna didn't kiss her. Her lips skipped past her neck and continued up to her right ear, brushing against the small hairs on her earlobe as she coldly hissed, "I won’t let you ruin me. It pains me to have to do this, but there‘s no other choice."

Elsa tried to spin out of the seemingly unbreakable lock-hold she had on her and screamed, "Anna, no! Don't—" before she was immersed underwater with a powerful shove.

Anna straightened her arms and locked her elbows in place as she pushed down, down on her shoulders, pushing her head further below the lukewarm water and keeping her there. It was not an easy task, what with the constant thrashing and kicking as Elsa fought to get back up. Determination left Anna impassive as she struggled to keep her in place. "Don't fight me, Elsa," she chided. "I want to get this done quickly. You're not accomplishing anything by fighting me, only prolonging your impending death."

Salt water clogged Elsa's ears, preventing her from hearing her words. She futilely fought to escape, to get away and breathe in the oxygen her lungs were craving badly. They were starting to burn and her body was telling her to open her mouth to let in air. She wanted to comply badly but knew the very second she did so she would die. But she couldn’t hold her breath for much longer.

She felt herself starting to give in and stopped herself in time, focusing all her energy on not breathing. _I have to do something_ , she thought frantically, forcing her eyes open. Her natural reaction upon being submerged was to close her eyes tightly. Now that she had them open she noticed rocks of all shapes and sizes resting at the bottom of the sand. One rock in particular caught her attention. A silver rock with a point similar to a well-sharpened kitchen knife half buried in the sand. Elsa attempted to pick it up using her feet and successfully sliced the arch of her right foot. She squelched the urge to breathe in sharply from the pain, and as her blood mingled with the salty water, the salt stinging her wound, instead of fighting Anna’s hold to get to the surface, she went with the push and knelt down. Her fingers grasped the edge, being careful to avoid getting cut by the tip.

And then she had it, and just as she swung the knife-like rock backward, towards Anna, her vision blurred and went black.


End file.
